Forgotten Day
by Shinashi
Summary: Jupiter dismembers Iason's previous lifestyle out of mercy. Yet, his new life is starting to look like his old one! Jupiter, with her Secret Service, decides to destroy this new one, especially a certain mongrel Wolf named Riki the Dark. Review Please!
1. Prologue of

**Author's Note**: Long overdue~ Both this story and the remake of Ai no Kusabi. I mean, It's kinda cool how I had put this off for so long and now... Yea...

This is very much an AU, with the characters based off from both Rieko Yoshihara's Ai no Kusabi (duh~) and Kira Takenouchi's Taming Riki (oh no~!). I'm not quite sure why, but Riki has always- and I do mean always... Like, in-seventh-grade-I-watched-the-OVA-always, imagined Riki as sort of wolf-like. Everything else is from my fantasies on fantasy.

Oh yea, don't worry if the story has your expectations from the summary all confused. It's supposed to.

Haven't read Taming Riki? Aaaah, it costs that green now.. sooo... Yea. I say it's worth it. When I get a job I'm certainly subscribing to Kira again.

**Summary**: Iason Mink resigns not to know everything, but there are secrets he feels he needs. When he sees an answer in a Wolf named Riki, the forces working to make him forget are set in motion all over again. Will this be the true end of them this time?

Prologue of...

Iason Mink, dressed in nothing but a pair of silky, light-blue pants, paced across his lush bedroom carpet. The colors went back-and-forth between lighter and darker tan, as carpets usually do, though this one seemed particularly tired.

Like many Blondies of his generation, and a significant minority of other generations, he had the terrible feeling that something was missing. Like those others, he believed at first only a petty generalization that something was somewhat wrong: Amoi was in danger, or Jupiter was angry, another Blondie caught in his webs of lies and deceit, an Elite snatched from his home because of an anonymous informer. As the years wore on from the first feeling, one could narrow it down, for all 'missing feelings' were 'wrong feelings' after all, but not all wrong feelings were missing ones. The missing feelings were distinct, especially for Iason, in a way that it produced a yearning for a fruitless search.

Iason had no idea what he was missing in life. He was practically ruler of a country, one of the most powerful countries on the Continent, with huge states and resources. And unlike most heads of state, he actually was the richest and most powerful man in Amoi. There were no celebrities or novelists he had to, or will ever, compete with. He could have any exotic animal or pet known, barring the breakage of any fundamental Amoian rules. He had an adorable cook from Aristia who had made food for gods; at least, Iason's friends thought so. Speaking of, he was friends with the most spectacular, brilliant, and, needless-to-say, influential Blondies and Elites. He is by far the most popular Head Sovereign in history.

The Sovereign is King, second only to Jupiter, the mechanical goddess herself. She has existed before Amoian land was named Amoi, before the roads and mirrors, Pets and plaster buildings. Her rule, though invisible, was as hard and ruthless as any physical chain, but with all the secrecy of a poisonous snake. The Guide which she had laid for the land seemed callous, demonic, and hateful to most outsiders. Even if they could, foreigners wouldn't even think about leaving even the most barren of their wastelands to spend one night in Amoi, save for the women and children of Gardan.

Yet, Jupiter adored Iason since he came out of Watch, in which he was aged to sixty-years-old with aid of Jupiter's magic. Fourteen years of schooling, five years apprenticeship, and forty years of employment later, raved on by teachers and masters alike, and Iason had become the most respectable man in Tanagura. Beyond even that, he led the continent from a world war. A rebel army of some sorts came from the southern Great Forests and had actually gotten a hold of some arms. With the solid battlefront of neighboring Jan and Aristia, the army was dismantled with peace negotiations led by Iason Mink himself. Not a single drop of blood shed.

Domestics issues, from small-time, robberies by Ceres mongrels, to humiliating fiascoes of Elite conspiracies against the state, were brought down, sometimes with Iason only nodding once.

Though backed by the best of Tanagura's police, Iason's personal bodyguards had numerous amounts of experience, many small, but one had once guarded the Eye of Minagi, a feline god popular in the countries of Xeron and Lumbi. The Eye was actually a blue diamond roughly the size of a cauldron, rumored to have special powers. That guard had been up against all sorts of voodoo working there, and had killed aplenty.

Of course, he had servants, but one particular servant, his Furniture, has accrued all the respect as his former Furniture. Iason was loathe to see him go but he was passing- had passed regular time limits and the age set. It was only reputable to get a new one soon.

These feelings came hardest in these times of stressful change. Or when he didn't have a Pet, like now, but, at others' request, an acquirement of a new one- a fantastic creature just pushing the guidelines- didn't lessen the feeling in the least, only deterred it, let it fester.

And now again it was keeping him up into the night.

Another was up at that late hour with a solution-less problem of his own.

Raoul Am kicked the dead Pet at his feet, just to make sure he was dead. The boy's face matched the terrific blue of his hair. Eyes bulged out and stuck, he almost looked funny. Unlike most of the others Raoul had strangled impulsively, this boy's tongue hadn't moved; his mouth had been clamped shut. It was sort of admirable, how he had not even tried to fight, the resignation feeling more loyal than anything. Maybe that's why his face turned so blue.

The Pet had been a gift from some merchant who sold to big people and big names. He had liked one of Raoul's more spectacular paintings. A picture of the Aristian coast caked with a rainforest it was. A reddish-orange bird flew indistinctly amongst the rays of sunset. The merchant had said it was a nice touch and had given him the three million gold piece pet. Though the pet had been great, obedient, he did have a habit of being flirtatious and flippant. But that wasn't why Raoul killed him; the killing itself wasn't a problem.

It was a new moon. Nights like this, Raoul stayed home, feverish. Every one of his nerves felt like it was wired to its on little switchboard, all systems go, and the smallest trifle set him off. He learned this early from several canings in school. His friend Omaki Ghan made the comment calmly during a study hour. The advice made all the difference to whether Raoul eventually made it to Blondiehood.

Raoul had ordered for the Pet to copulate that night; his ravenous mood demanded it despite the Show just a few hours before. The Blondie's blood ran too quickly, uncontrollably, and a Bar fell from his back, as the Bar usually did when he passed the threshold of its containment. The Pet had screamed. Raoul stopped him.

A Bar usually consisted of some metal or gem from the weak tin to diamond, infused with the paradoxical magic that stopped magic from forming, stopped energy flow or blood running. What the advanced world called Spirit. In some societies, Spirit is what holds the soul to the body, or at least the brain and heart. Spirit is what helped humanoids transform into their complete animal or human selves, though most chose a middle between both. It helped people lift objects without touching them, fly, shoot lightning and rain from the sky or their hands, shout words that killed a person instantly, and stopped growth, hearing, or speech for a long-lasting torment.

In Amoi, Jupiter eliminated such differentiation, biologically and by law. One of her biggest lessons to growing Blondies: Differences brought conflict. However, beyond that, lie only the destruction of those differences. Be the same as possible, be in control, narrow your thoughts. They were reminded that they would never be able to comprehend Jupiter's laws and judgments fully, but they will always have the capacity to obey.

In this instance, when at times a diamond-plated gold Bar would fall from Raoul's back and a thick, white silver-striped tail slithered loose behind him, Jupiter and society expected him to turn himself in and be put to death. No other punishment existed for those who hid such features- point blank, no Blondie can live as a humanoid no more a humanoid could become a Blondie. But what made Raoul fight was his opinion that it was Jupiter's fault.

The first time his humanoid (Part-Cat, he assumed he was) pieces appeared, he had been masturbating to Iason Mink doing the same in the shower room. He was on the other side by the lockers when the young Blondie came in. Three had fallen out then to reveal he had stripes, a tail, and claws. Oh, and his hair was a bit grayer. Anyway, it was his eleventh year in school, new moon.

He hadn't put in the Bars, of course. The one from his back required a flexibility that he damn well didn't possess. So, some fucker had let him through in Watch. Hadn't Jupiter seen him up close, once? Had anyone? Sure, if someone had and he got sent to some work camp, or executed even, he wouldn't be here now. But he didn't want to go down as another one of her fucking statistics, as proof.

As a Blondie, he could kill a Pet a week for some crappy reason and still be a respectable Blondie, even more so for some. Yet, as humanoid, as some being whose superstitious ancestors merged with mystical animals eons ago, he was a crazy murderer, ready to kill anyone.

What's more, all Blondies supposedly came from Jupiter through science and some miraculous power of creation. How was he born as some dreaded mutant?

Raoul pondered this, feeling shocked and dulled at the same time, and pressed the Bar as close as possible to where he felt it fall. It was made well, for it aligned itself to wherever it needed to be and the tail disappeared. He simply stared ahead with his hard neon blue eyes, seeing nothing but the turmoil inside. He didn't see his pretty, kneeling Furniture frozen at the door's right corner. If he did, he would have pressured him. How much had he seen? He wouldn't know that the boy knew everything. A person's lying skills increased dramatically when he was being choked to death.

"Master," the Furniture spoke softly, "would you like for me to call Omaki?"

Raoul glanced at the now standing Furniture. "Do it."

Calling Omaki really meant getting a private team dispatched to remove the body, but Omaki called the shots.

When the team had come and gone, Raoul left his condo, leaving his poor Furniture to fend against the ghosts alone.

Xian Sami, too, traversed the streets. He didn't live far from Raoul, but they wouldn't meet that night. Instead, Xian went an opposite way, into a Midas park, still pretty close to Tanagura. He was the only Blondie with golden eyes and it helped him see at night, even 2 o' clock at night in the middle of an evergreen forest on a new moon.

Problems and perturbed feelings plagued Xian, had been for the longest. His eyes were just the beginning. They sometimes glowed and pulsed and he could see things others couldn't- like ghosts, which crowded around him tonight. Dead, overripe Blondies and Elites speaking some ghost language, keeping him wide awake.

But what woke him wasn't them. It was the missing feeling, strong and relentless. Xian was fortunate enough to know what exactly it was. His past Pet, of five whole years ago, had aged out. He had him for two years, way beyond the decent limit, but there weren't many questions. The Pet was beautiful, sweet and naughty all at once. Always kind. Able to make the finest conversation while brushing his hair- mermaids were coming to the aquarium, Soofie hair products dyed your hair pink after prolonged use, things like that.

Jupiter had sent a message that the Pet was too old, surely, to be of much more entertainment, so Xian, most opposed to giving his Pet up to Furniturehood for a nice sum, but definitely not wanting him to sludge through brothel after brothel until he wound up on some doctor's table with one kidney, signed him to the last resort: Monik's Black Star Mines, just outside Midas, quite a travel away.

Horribly naive, Xian believed that the Pet, who never had to buy his own clothes, would be in good hands, fooled by Monik's soothing smile and list of amenities: private room with bath and magic mirrors, Dimension videos and pictures and surf the Dim (hand and Spirit-operated devices to watch just about anything on a mirror, and expensive as hell), kitchenette, free clothing, and of course wages, but with free food. There were beds and coaches, desks with chairs, common rooms with mirror and electronic games. Private rooms, music rooms- the fun went on and on, and Xian sold his beautiful Pet for a heftier sum than Furniturehood and brotheldom combined.

Besides, being Secretary of Amoi, Xian never had very bad pets, never Pets that he had to send away to some horrible fate. Thus, he didn't know the mine was reserved for those utterly desperate for work and ready for death, and for intractable Pets whose Masters were too squeamish to kill a human being.

If Xian had told anyone, they would have been completely astounded, since Xian seemed so taken with the Pet. But he told no one, thinking that his embarrassing possessiveness of his Pet would be evident.

Then, unable to wrap his mind around another Pet, he got a Furniture. He had no need of one before because he hardly ever spent a night at home, enjoying the presence of Pets and friends more than anything. The young Furniture was a total gossip, hilarious, and hated the feeling of other people's hair. But later, after just a year, he turned himself in for a flying ability he developed. Luckily for him (and that is the biggest understatement ever made), Amoi's Messenger had been killed on a mission en route to Xeron. Now, that Furniture held the title of Messenger.

And Xian had dreams of them both in his empty apartment. Toma, the socialite dreadfully alone on horrible spy missions, worked on him. His Pet's horrible living in the mine, working all hours of the day with hardly a bite to eat and too tired to enjoy his outdated 'amenities' tormented Xian even during the day.

It was shameful for him to be so attached to rather insignificant people, but a lot of things were falling apart. His visions came unbidden during War and Domestic meetings and business conferences. One time at a party the guests caught him staring at a hallway wall, lost in a nasty summoning. In the privacy of his home, the Pet and Furniture ignored this.

Xian missed them so much.

Another certain Blondie was missing something. Everything. Above him, a rather handsome mongrel pulled and pushed inside him, working at a furious pace. The mongrel didn't know he was fucking a Blondie. Drink and drugs did a number even to those used to it in the slum town of Ceres.

The Blondie didn't know much of anything either, except the deep thrusts stabbed shallowly into everything that was gone in that moment. This Blondie believed in instant gratification, screw the rules. Anyone against him could have a fatal mistake of long ago resurrected. He relied on these bribes before and had no qualms on using them again and again. Nights like these made his evil deeds worth it.

On the other side of Ceres where Omaki and the nameless drunk mongrel moved lustfully in a hotel bed, Eadni Elusiax also had a man atop him- a beast actually. Poor Elusiax could only breathe in small spurts underneath the ton of weight. On the other side of his room were the young sleeping Blondies, who Elusiax supervised as a Watcher. Their chamber centered on the eighty-eighth floor of the tower, the tower alone in some secret dimension. To the outside world, they would stay in the Watch Tower for only two years, but in that warped space the first sixty years of a Blondie's life passed. The same sixty years since the beginning of Amoian time.

When this unclassified Blondie-looking Elite leaves Watch, the memories of the sixty years and the growing Blondies would disappear, and the children he raised will not remember him.

Elusiax knew this, and felt that panicking over this scary mongrel insignificant in the bigger picture. Even if the mongrel had five tails, it was cute the way his ears flickered in his heavily drunken sleep. One of his arms squeezed Elusiax's torso, further shortening his breath. The mongrel's head made a pillow out of Elusiax's head. With a small wiggle, the Elite felt a thigh with the tip of his toe. Well above the mongrel's knees.

At least seven feet!

And he was so hot. Mid-winter probably did him no favors, or perhaps it cooled him down?

Elusiax had no idea why he had these thoughts at these times, but it kept him from falling asleep. The mongrel was surprisingly comfortable to be so heavy, his husky alcohol-induced smell soothed Elusiax a bit. That familiar, protective arm... But if the drunk mongrel awoke to find himself cuddling a Blondie; that scenario scared the Elite. On the other side were just Blondies of fifty-eight years, adorable things that Elusiax loved dearly. He suddenly feared for them. He began trying to move away.

As soon as he moved a good inch, the mongrel awoke, murmuring, "Riki!" Then, more softly, "Riki?"

Elusiax pretended to sleep.

"Where am I?" Fuck, dropped off in a fuckin' loony bin. Where the hell am I? Who's this?"

The blood ran cold in Elusiax's veins as the mongrel unveiled him in the dark, lifting the thin blanket from his shoulders.

"This ain't no Iason," he whispered. "What the fuck?"

After what may have been more staring, the mongrel Sprung away, out of the dimension, probably.

Springen is voluntary instant teleportation, either by Spirit or Psyche, as opposed to magic spell (where then it is called warping) or flying. Psyche itself is the extremely dangerous disposition to cause any supernatural event, i.e. Springen, without any physical consequence, lost of Spirit or energy or magical reserve. Any degree of Psyche usually met with negative reviews, Springen got just a little more leeway.

But that didn't matter to Elusiax; he didn't sweat the small stuff himself. The foul-mouthed mongrel did not hurt him. So Elusiax checked on the babes to soothe his nerves, and then went back to sleep, dreaming of the faceless beast.

"Everything is there, except his face," Heiku Quiahtenon muttered, groggy from sleep. His dream man was a Bondie with his class ring. The man sat in a chair with a glass of wine inhis hand, simple clothes with white boots, suit, and cape. But his face was still missing. It had been forming Yousi Xuuju's face, his ten years dead face.

Heiku looked at his arm, which always ached after these dreams. It was prosthetic. He lost it in his temporary bout of insanity, but remade one with metal, glass, Spirit, blood, and a shit ton of illegal magical spells. As lead doctor and surgeon of Tanagura's Medical Center, no one was that surprised. He had once done brain surgery, leaving the patient with only mere vestiges of her brain. Yet the young woman had all her memories and learned three languages afterward. Heiku wished he could pull his own memory of Yousi out and away.

Fortunately, his mind would be occupied that following day, as like his friends aforementioned. Team 98, Elusiax's team, would be coming out of Watch with the new generation.

To Heiku and the soon-to-be hungover Omaki and the rest, Elusiax has been gone for two years. Just as the faceless, five-tailed mongrel Sprung through Jupiter's dimensions and back next to some random lover, months had passed for Elusiax. By morning the young Blondies were sixty-years-old, ready to enter school and confront Konami sung, Headmaster of Tanagura Elite Academy. Their minds will be full of buried memories, but the residue of the memories' emotions remained, which could explain Elusiax's magnetic personality to most Blondies younger than him.

Being a Watcher wasn't exactly the most intellectual job out there. Apprenticeship consisted of tutoring and chaperoning students at the Academy for about seven years. If one passed, they were trained for a 'month' (eight years) to take care of young Blondies. They were told they were fifty-nine. In reality, most were hardly a year.

But that was a long, well-kept story.

Anyway, for the Head Sovereign and Surgeon, the Secretary of the State, Foreign Affairs and Domestic Affairs (the leaders of the War Council), to take a day off from their infinitely busy schedule to meet a mere Watcher made said Watcher very special indeed.

Still, many a Blondie were sad to see Elusiax leave every one year to spend two years in Watch. Many were also disgruntled when it became apparent that the Sovereign and his friends had dibs on the man when he came back, picking him up straight from the Academy ballroom. But that was only after the Welcoming Ceremony. Elusiax always stayed behind along with the newer Watchers and apprentices to see the new generation welcomed into the hard, unforgiving arms of Konami Sung.

Most Watchers chose their job because it required very little work other the, essentially, babysitting, and it still paid very well. Plus, they couldn't remember any of their kids, so they didn't bother with the Ceremony after awhile; their paychecks were waiting.

Obviously, Elusiax could care less about money. He often carried a huge bag around filled with money and gifts for younger Elites and his ward Suuki. His passion was for the younger generation.

The Blondies were all going to be tired once they met Elusiax, but their reunion fulfilled the missing, at least for a day.

--------Anyone wanna beta for me? Sorry for all the mistakes!

--------Oh, yea: Please review!


	2. First Encounter?

**Author's Note**: So the lady of Taming Riki, Miss Kira Takenouchi has decided to move past on all her yaoi writings. It is a huge disappointment since she was one of the best of the best! I loved Taming Riki so much, and I wrote this story because I was soooo inspired, but oh well. Who really knows what will happen to all her great stories, but still, Forgotten Day is a homage to her and her stories really.

I will continue as long as I have support, ya' know. Man, how sad!

**Summary**: The chance meeting of a lifetime? Not exactly. A meeting of fate? Exactly so. Oh yea. It's fun with Mother (kudos to those who understand this reference).

Chapter 1 of ...A First Encounter? 

Iason, for the first time in months, decided to sleep in late. All he had planned for the day was for his lead bodyguard Odi Nunnda to chauffeur him and his friends around Amoi. And he wouldn't have to start all that activity until midday.

During the day, the domed roof of Iason's bedroom ceiling became a gigantic skylight. Iason covered his head with a pillow and continued to sleep long after the sun had risen.

Iason's seventy-years-old Furniture Daryl awoke the same time but got up to check the living area for his master, just in case the Blondie had decided to wake up early. He waited half an hour, then went back to bed to enjoy a couple more hours of hard-earned rest.

Tai, the adorable chef from Aristia, had to prepare breakfast for the bodyguards Askel and Freyn Ursath, and Odi. Some dark, spiced ham with croissants and handmade jam, then add coffee and juice, Tai made a breakfast to put any guy in the spirit to be a taximan. Especially Odi, who _did_ find it hard to reconcile with the fact that he won't be guarding the penthouse, leaving the Squabble Twins to fend for themselves. But hey, it wasn't as if he was leaving them with a half-crazed zealot trying to masturbate underneath the Eye of Minagi.

Tai was just making lunch when Iason came in freshly showered and dressed in his best gold-trimmed white tunic, an old-fashioned watch, solid gold of course, tucked in his shirt pocket. His boots made authoritative sounds as he stepped across the marble floor. He passed the balcony where Odi enjoyed one last smoke, and he nodded towards Daryl who was pouring his juice and coffee carefully into glasses. Iason ignored the feeling that he would soon have to deal with the nervous hands of a new recruit, again.

The lunch was small, for he would eat out today, wouldn't be home until very late. While sipping his coffee, he decided then that he will look for a new Furniture today, and have him start training tomorrow. That was that.

"Have a good day, Master," Daryl said, while handing him his gloves.

As Iason slipped them on he made another decision, another fleeting decision. "Raoul's Furniture Yui will be alone today as well. Why don't you keep him company?"

A bit surprised at the suggestion, Daryl merely mumbled, "Alright, Sir."

Iason nodded again, then exited the penthouse. Riding the elevator down a few floors he owned, he came upon the widest part of the Eos Tower building, where the architect Megala Chi shared a floor with the Secretary of Domestic Affairs Raoul Am. Megala had been out for two weeks and was scheduled to be out for at lest two more, working on a summer castle for some church in Aristia.

Raoul should be up- keyword should- but anything before noon was always pretty early for his friend. But it was only an hour earlier. He could get up just that early, right? Iason knocked on his door; Raoul hated the sounds of bells for some reason, especially one aimed for him.

Apparently Raoul could not get up at eleven. His extraordinarily gentle-faced Furniture answered, opening the door a bit slowly, anxiousness etched into his face. He wore several layers of light material robes, they a myriad of dark colors, just as ancient Amoians used to wear. Iason turned this slowly in his mind as he patiently waited for Raoul to be ready, declining Yui's offer of a seat. Twenty minutes later, Raoul joined them.

"Yui!" Raoul barked immediately. "Why is Iason standing around?"

Before the poor Furniture could stutter a reply, Iason answered, "I decided to stand since I was sure you were coming shortly, as we had agreed to meet twenty minutes ago." His speech flowed smoothly, eyes solid.

Raoul stared pointedly at Yui when he murmured, "My apologies." He was exhausted and irritated that he was so exhausted. He hated that he had made his good friend of so many years- since birth really- wait, and still had more friends to meet in such a sorry state.

At least he looked good. He wore his sleeveless red tunic, foregoing the usual bodysuit, tucked into a pair of pants flowing freely over white shoes. Other than that and his luxurious mane of slightly wavy hair, he wore nothing.

"Yui," Iason said while Raoul checked himself in a mirror one last time, "my Furniture Daryl, with your master's permission, may visit you today."

"Master?" Yui asked, a bit excited for some company other than the bird and kitten Raoul had bought him long ago. Plus, Daryl was pretty cute.

Raoul shrugged uninterestedly and spared not another look at his Furniture who bowed so generously. From there, he and Iason went to Iason's limousine, Odi standing there holding the door open.

"You look very tired, Raoul. It wouldn't be a stretch to say you had overslept?" Iason's voice was absent any irritation it may have had. Only pleasant concern remained.

Raoul looked at his friend, the sun shining full on his face through the window, but only illuminated the dark circles under his eyes. "I did. But you don't look entirely fresh yourself. And here we all had decided to take it easy."

Iason cocked his head to the side. "You have an erection," he commented casually. Raoul looked down tiredly at himself, shrugged. "Where is your Pet? You have changed your mind about bringing him along?" But in the corner of Iason's mind came the recollection that he had seen no trace of the Pet at Raoul's apartment, not even to say goodbye.

"I sold him," came the tight answer. Ridiculous. Iason had seen the boy just last night and knew Raoul probably woke up just as he had arrived. Where did he have the time? However, there was no more to that conversation; it wasn't of that much importance anyway. Raoul's erection went away by the time they arrived at Xian's large house. As Secretary of Amoi, he dabbled in opulence.

Xian yawned as a greeting; the circles under his golden eyes- now more a dull yellow- were grotesque in their heady color. He looked at his friends and laughed. At least he wouldn't be the only one half-dead, at this usually cheerful occasion. He hoped they would be too tired to notice his twitching and hitched breathing.

"My, don't we look like a rowdy bunch this afternoon?" Omaki murmured, uncharacteristically humorless. He climbed into the limo with hard-wrought steps and was so hungover, he still felt a bit drunk.

"I think you had a date with both Miss Brandy and , Omaki," Xian retorted, a bit amused. Beside him, Raoul grew more annoyed; they all looked they were going to rehab.

Heiku, usually the epitome of health and a strict lecturer on it, was no better, giving only a curt reply to the whereabouts of his Pet Ima, and fell asleep a bit during traffic.

The cars were middle high-tech, off-duty Watchers and Guardian hopefuls for the budding Elites at the Academy. Taking a young Elite from the Dorms earned a Guardian a nice bonus and prestige if the young man became, say, Treasure or Ambassador. The relationship made a powerful foundation for future engagements, free trips to Aristia were the most popular.

"Raise the car, Odi," Iason ordered. A short time after, the Blondies felt the car lift. The police organizing traffic recognized the emblem of the Sovereign, the only being allowed to design the symbols of Amoi on anything other than a flag. They let him pass with a salute. Young Elite students waved from silver buses, coming from end-of-the-year field trips. Elites honked in recognition.

Iason turned down the windows to wave back, but he was quite relieved to see the marble Academy, brimming with people; a band specifically ordered from Alpha Zen played merrily for all the visitors.

While the people they had just ridden side-by-side against waited another couple hours to get in, the Sovereign emblem got the Blondies a quick rooftop parking and a parting sea of Elites as they made their way to the rooms holding the released Watchers. Most of the Watchers will gather together with friends and spend much of their paychecks before hanging out in usual Blondie revelry.

Some of the friends seemed uniquely excited this time around. The ones who came early had already considered staying for bit; they had received some interesting news. For some reason, Palo Corrocuni, President of the Watchers program, has announced that the Welcoming Ceremony for the new generations will be a private celebration from now on. The info wasn't official until it went through Council and Sovereign, but Palo had full authority to kick out anyone that he holds the coin purse for.

"Come on... The Ceremony is already centuries long" Heiku complained, rearranging his black gloves, as they waited outside the Watchers' room.

Xian nodded sleepily, adding, "What could they possibly be talking about if they can't even remember their job?" Still it was another fifteen minutes before the Watchers came out of the conference room. Until then, the top Fourteenth years of the Upper Academy section came from the Ballroom of the Academy. These pre-apprenticeship Elites were the first 'children' of many of the Watchers in the secret room. It was even already checked that the Valedictorian Aertis Jin had been under Eadni Elusiax's care, but that was long after the two established a strong relationship. Aertis was to give the speech to the rising Uppers, Eleventh years, and right about now he was a bit terrified.

"Sovereign Mink, it is an absolute pleasure to see you, all of you, Sirs." Aertis and his closest friends bowed extraordinarily low, hoping they were allowed to breathe the same air as these powerful Blondies.

"Have you heard?" he continued shakily, too nervous to realize that the Blondies were probably too tired to realize a rotting body. "Lord Corrocuni has made the later activities private. B-But I'm sure you, of all people can stay, just... N-Not Eadni, I mean, Watchers, like Sir Elusiax."

This, obviously, distressed the young Blondie very much, but the info sunk in slowly for the older Blondies before the repercussions became clear.

"What the hell?" Raoul cursed, as was normal for him. "Why? Eadni, and probably two other bored Watchers ever even stay. I didn't dress my best to waste it on Elusiax being sad all day."

"It's not about you," Xian said non-reproachfully.

"Whatever."

And then Palo arrived through the door, a bit red in the face, feeling dulled in the heart for reasons few actually knew. After him, Watchers came, taking great care to leave space between him and Elusiax coming from the rear of the group.

Instead of an almost teary-like face his friends imagined, Elusiax was furious, and he walked with such ferocity his friends woke up a little more. Dressed simply in a pinkish but still daunting wraparound robe that ended above his knees, a bit of skin showing there disappearing into thigh-high boots; dressed by the self-addressed Magnificent Blondie Duo Kyle Rhys and Enil Tapani King, ridiculously wealthy businessmen; donning accessories given by almost every department of the state and also the senior class at the Academy, Elusiax was beyond stunning, and he was definitely a sight for the sore eyes of Elites greedy for something to chew on. It helped that he was one of the tallest Elites, towering over all his Blondie friends at a staggering 6'9". Still, his smooth, calming face, angles indistinct, and dimples in angry cheeks, made him a paradoxical subject to come up against.

"Did you hear?" shouted the surprisingly deep voice. "Palo is making the Ceremony private! Oh, wait, it is nice to see you boys again, though, as you know, it feels like I just saw all of you yesterday." He then proceeded to embrace all of them, stooping to give the younger Blondies handshakes. He ignored all the disapproving glares.

"Aertis! You look mortified. You know you should just speak like you had at Middle."

At this Aertis began to visibly break. "Dagas Freischonen said that because you won't be there I can't do my speech."

"What does he know?" Raoul barked, between extreme agitation and ultimate exhaustion, he moved towards the Ballroom, effectively moving them all.

"He's an envious boy." Elusiax called anyone under him a boy, or lady. "Always Salutatorian, poor thing."

Heiku scoffed. "I was tenth, and here I am." Then he yawned, earning him a worried furrow of Elusiax's brow; the Watcher suddenly noticed something amiss among his friends.

"Yes, but he's not cool," Zusin Bogard commented. He was Aertis' best friend of eleven years. Behind him, several others nodded.

"Thanks. Oh, pain-in-the-rear one and two are coming."

Palo and Dagas walked from two opposite sides, surrounded by friends and supporters, flunkies essentially. Elusiax's glare made them pause, Iason's presence among them had them walking albeit tentatively towards the large group.

"Sovereign. Pleased to meet you this delightful afternoon," Palo greeted, shaking Iason's rather limp hand. "You are most welcome to the ceremony that is going to start in just under an hour... You seem upset about that?"

Iason had to really try not to pull his own face off, or something similar. However, his face came off comforting, amiable. "It is nice to meet you as well, Lord Corrocuni. If you wouldn't mind, why don't you invite us all further inside. I'm sure there are plenty of seats, correct?" And here Iason, together with small, knowing smiles coming from the rest, ushered them all the way to a table. It seemed smooth sailing from then on: Palo looked a bit lost as Iason streamed him with compliments on the sparkling decorations, the uplifting music, and various other nuances that wowed the new beings. These boys were currently sitting on the far side of the hall, pretty much mute as the rooms filled with more and more people. Clear floor led to these guest seats which all centered around the left side where the stage and podium stood.

Before they made it to a spot with adequate room for them all, Dagas made the great realization, "I thought you said no more Watchers?"

Raoul made something between a growl and a bark come from his throat. Dagas got out of choking range.

An abrupt change in color came upon Palo's face, and he looked around nervously. "That's quite right, Sovereign," Palo agreed. "I have made changes-"

"I have heard. Exactly what do you expect to gain by making this private, yet inviting me, who has no benefits whatsoever from this gathering?" He motioned everyone to sit down, and they did. Leaving Palo, Dagas, Aertis and friends to stand around.

"It is rumored that the Academy pupils hold your affections," Palo tried.

"You mean to say that I enjoy the presence of children." This was stated quite plainly.

"Yes, yes, just so," the president readily replied.

"Well, that's quite odd. If that is the case then, wouldn't Watchers be the first ones invited? Isn't it the case that if it weren't for them, this occasion wouldn't be possible?"

Others were starting to stare.

"Um..Um-Ah," came the stammers. "Well-"

"Why don't you just continue as usual. The Headmaster seems to be calling for you. Mustn't keep him waiting." Iason pointed at Konami Sung, who had already sent another from the podium to get Palo.

"Oh, yes, yes-yes," and then Palo left, completely taken away by Iason's silky smooth subliminal subtlety.

"I bet you're relieved now. Mama's here to cheer you on." Dagas taunt was quickly answered by Raoul," You best watch your mouth, brat. Why don't you finds some eighth year to bug the hell out of- and that's not a suggestion!"

Dagas jumped, feeling thoroughly put out, and finally made his leave, letting Aertis bathe in the influx of pep talk from friends within and around his impressive sphere. He went on to deliver an encouraging speech to the freshmen, after the Valedictorian of the Lower Academy ushered in the new generation.

As inspiring as the ceremony was, when the Headmaster began his speech of Law and Order, the biological mechanism that made boredom a time of sleep, though ill-used, had some Blondies drowning out his voice.

_Fuck, I'm sleepy_, was Xian's thought, matched by many others. They greeted the reception with great relief, while other Elites present picked out the young Blondies who could become their wards. As usual, several of these boys came up to Elusiax, attracted to his presence.

"Your pheromones are working," Heiku teased.

"Shush," Elusiax whispered, answering "Perhaps" to one boy's inquiry on whether or not he was under his care in Watch.

Soon, Elusiax relayed to his friends that he was ready to leave.

Upon exiting the building, Xian asked, "What about Suuki?"

Elusiax waved the question off. "He asked me if he could go out with his friends, by text message, in the release briefing, believing I had already left. Of course, I said yes." Odi opened the door for him while the others followed in. When the doors closed, Omaki sat himself in the Watcher's lap, kissing his cheek.

"My dear Eadni, where have you been for so long? I've missed you so. These blokes never give me anything for free." Omaki's usual show was given the usual eyerolls.

"I've been in Watch, and you must understand that they are not the types to give away free things. Quite honestly, Omaki-" Elusiax shoved him off. "-you aren't either.

"So what have you boys planned for me this evening besides being exhausted out of your minds? Oh, look, Xian sleeps." The Watcher smiled indulgently as the golden-eyed Blondie's head rolled on the window.

"Enil and Kyle opened a new eatery while you were away. We are heading there now. Afterward, if you like, Nico Tathens wishes to go shopping with all of us. Then, perhaps we, along with a fair amount of other Elites, can have a club dinner in V.I.P. Serendipity." Omaki smiled, waiting for a reply, and Elusiax smiled back.

"Splendid."

It wasn't long before they arrived at the high-class neighborhood. At that moment, they were so into regaling what they have been doing the last two years, teasing and bantering with one another over little trifles, Iason ordered Odi to go back down through the heavy ground traffic. This also gave them the perfect view of a street full on both sides with parked cars.

"Oh, my, what is that mongrel doing there?" Omaki interrupted himself.

In this corner of Midas, the richest met with the destitute. While not mingling directly, many a tourist have come in contact with a mongrel pickpocket. A majority of the mongrels were dark-haired and dark-skinned. Not a single one, as far as anyone knows, straight human or sorcerer. Ninety percent Wolf humanoid, with a mix of weaker canines, felines, and a few lizards and birds.

Long ago, many of their ancestors were ousted by the Gardan king, forcing them from the frozen woodlands further south. They had to go beyond the territorial Dragon humanoids land of what is now called Alpha Zen, and past Burkok west of it and finally made camp in a land mostly inhabited by humans and elves, half and half. Unlike the Burkotians, the elves enjoyed the more diverse life. However, the humans were loathe to be taken out by the more powerful beings.

Unfortunately, the humanoids and elves had no intention of using their powers other than to hunt and make some common technology. Eventually, the humans became more powerful. Rulers, leaders, scholars, and magicians all worked intricately with other like-minded humans of other countries, namely what came to be Alpha Zen and Gardan. They spun through technological advances and magical breakthroughs up until 8,000 years ago- when they made, while some say they summoned, Jupiter.

No one knew that the self-proclaimed goddess ever could exist, but in exchange for her complete authority, she promised a new world free of humanoids. First came the first generation of Blondies, who, though a bit sluggish, took pieced Amoi by the reins. A few opportune deaths of elves and humanoids, the conquering of lands, and a stricter culture obviously discriminating against humanoids sparked the Revolution. The Wolves and other minorities on one side against the Blondie-human combination. At that time, Xeron and Aristia (then called Manuta), just finished off a war of their own. Both would have been huge assets to the humanoid army, adding Dragons and Tigers and whatnot to their ranks, but, alas, they were even too weak to help themselves. Burkok was slowly changing its ways, but didn't join the fight either.

In the end, Alpha Zen and Gardan managed to quell humanoid unrest in their places as well as Amoi, staving off the technologically deficient countries Jan and Lumbi of the south. Jupiter killed off those who wouldn't surrender, and eventually she cornered most in Ceres, where she left them to 'live' without much food, water or shelter. It was hoped they would soon die out. But it takes Wolves about a month to starve to death, and the twin moons of Ios and Erphanes, whenever full together, revived Wolves the whole Continent over. So the revolutionaries never died out though their descendants never banded so eloquently again.

How mongrels like them ever made a living was no mystery. They stole and perhaps killed, and everything in between.

This one here, a short-haired one of a single tail, was frantically looking for an unlocked car. The roar of traffic drowned out the sound of temporary alarms and the mongrel's cries of pain as some doors actually shocked him.

"He must be on drugs to do that in broad daylight," Xian mused aloud. "Why is he here so far from Ceres?"

"Perhaps it is because of those shady men behind him," Omaki observed.

By shady men, he meant five well-built men, two carrying collars, one holding an odd-looking Taser, the last two holding chains.

The mongrel finally came to an irresponsibly open car. But at that precious moment of pausing his body to open the door more fully, one man shot a yellow dart. It hit his side, and he immediately transformed into a three-tailed Wolf. With one leg he kicked the sticker off, changed back, and slid over the hood of the car to the other side and tried to open that door. It was locked, and the alarm sounded. The mongrel simply began running again.

The Blondies watched as the men put several more Taser sticks into the Wolf, each time the boy getting up more and more slowly, but not giving up. Finally, he stayed on the ground, panting. The men came up to him, the nearest getting kicked well in the face and knocking down the other four. By then, he was hardly a few meters away from the limo's door. They had only moved a car's length all the while. The driver of the car behind them gasped in shock.

"What's wrong, Iason?" Raoul asked as Iason got out of the limo. "What are you doing? Those policemen will handle him."

"Those aren't police," Omaki said knowingly. He gave Elusiax a smile, for the Watcher looked anxious of what was to happen.

Iason felt a chord being struck within him. In all honesty, he's never seen something so amusing as the Wolf fighting a futile fight against a Taser and five men. He decided he would help the mongrel and leave him to himself, just to see what would happen. Of course, it was obvious: the Wolf will manage to go back to Ceres and continue his grim life, or he will be caught again and sent to jail. Iason will probably never see him again... or anything so amusing.

"Ey, yo, it's Iason Mink. President he is." They were speaking the rough Amoian dialect of Urus, which omitted common verbs and completely ignored decent word order.

A man on the side, hair a shocking green but his eyes dead gray, glared at the Blondie. Iason felt a premonition: he could kill this man.

Then a feeling of intense déjà vu washed over him, so intense that it captured the attention of the other men as the usually solid face of Iason Mink went completely lax. The man with the ropes believed the Blondie was about to suffer a heart attack, recalling the same face of an uncle going through cardiac arrest.

But his face did change back to normal, though the feeling was deeply lodged. "Move along, all of you."

"Why we move? Hah, huh?" shouted the nephew, who still continued tying up the Mongrel. Nameless nemesis number four still had a Taser pointed despite the rounds still embedded in the Wolf's flesh.

The gray eyes of the leader stared for a few more moments.

"I've made my point clear," Iason said, turning around to his bewildered friends. Each went through the trial of either helping or stopping Iason but through group-influence, none of them did anything. They watched Iason come back and the group behind him disband, except for the mongrel, who apparently had something to say. And it didn't look like a thank you. They were too far to hear clearly.

The young humanoid transformed back and rushed to Iason, turned him around, and began on some heated topic. Iason answered calmly to some question; this seemed to infuriate the mongrel. He answered in fierce, short gestures with his arms and hands, mostly pointing behind himself.

Iason shrugged, making to turn around once more, only to be snagged again. The mongrel poked him in the chest, bending his finger so, and they could hear his yells in bits and pieces, "Owe you... life!" summed it up pretty well. After he finished that particular spiel, Iason said a few more things, walking close to the mongrel, up against a wall. One more thing he said, and the Blondies in the car could lipread the mongrel's answer of, "Whatever."

Iason quickly took both hands of the mongrel and pinned them over his head. He ignored the mongrel's yells and subdued the following fight, lifting the Wolf from the ground. From his pocket he took a ring, that could lock on either a finger or toe or anything else round, something he intended to put on a new Furniture today (he had completely forgotten about that) but now placed around the Mongrel's penis. Then, he let the Mongrel go, backstepping to avoid what could have been a rather nasty scratch from the dark-haired humanoid.

"This isn't what I meant- Ach!" he screamed. An after shock of the Tasers then rode through his body after the mechanism of the Pet ring worked against him and his rudeness to his new Master.

No question, this Blondie had just saved him from one of the most painful deaths imaginable (Unbeknownst to either of them, Iason believed that he saved Riki only from a prison sentence), but this was entirely too much.

"You said anything," Iaosn answered coldly. "Come, I have places to be." He pointed to his limo, which at the moment managed another few feet.

"The only one holding you back is you. I ain't goin' nowhere."

"What is your name, mongrel?"

"Riki. Who the _fuck_ are you?"

"Iason Mink. Though I'm sure you heard your would-be captors."

Riki scoffed. "Well, excuse me if I was a bit distracted."

The Blondie said nothing to this, though he felt that the mongrel had him on that one. He walked towards the limo again, his friends now looked completely surprised, as if he had grown another head. They knew what happened but still couldn't quite believe it did happen. There. On the street. In broad daylight. Maybe Iason was smoking the good stuff?

They watched Iason tap the ring on his finger, the ruby sparkled. At that moment, the mongrel doubled over. He held his knees as the pain washed over him. Contemplating on staying where he was got him another shock.

With a face full of hatred and rebellion, Riki finally followed Iason into his limo, fists clenched.

With that tapping of the ring, the semi-magical computer system registered the mongrel as a pet, Unclassified.

With the two joining together in one place, so uniquely tied as a Blondie and mongrel was never intended to be, the Blondie of the car behind them honked his horn with a tattooed hand as he yelled, "What are the chances! What are the fucking chances?"


	3. Unexpected?

Author's Note: This was hard in coming for some reason. Please review if you like!

Summary: Riki's first hours with the Blondies come with strange refusals. It seems like some were prepared for Riki and Iason to meet...

Chapter 2 of...Unexpected?

Today had to be the lousiest day of Riki's entire life; the only way it could get any worse is if he had actually died in one of the occasions that momentarily called for it. First being when Cousin came over to 'check things out'. Cousin's lifelong job , despite his extraordinary abilities that could land him an early retirement on the beaches of Aristia, was to help the poor mongrel kids that either didn't want to go to one of the orphanages or were too old for them. Most kids were put under his care by parents who felt they weren't ready, and that was okay for Cousin, too. After a certain age, he let the kids go with a group already established out there in Ceres. From what anyone could tell, he has been doing this for over a hundred years.

Cousin sounds like a real softy when someone hears about him the first time, but for older people, people older than fifty usually (the infertile girls were given a bit more leeway), Cousin could be a real mean. He gives specific orders to the groups he chooses to watch over kids; he gives them money too. And the Bison gang is one of his favorites. They not only did odd jobs zealously, and were wicked good with the cops, they tended to the kids well. There's no surprise there, the leader, Riki, was a ward of his.

However, that particular morning, the three new members had run off, and some acquaintances said they saw them running around Midas- but only two of them. The only reason some kids would be running around Midas is if they were in trouble.

So the first thoughts that ran through the Bison members' head were the many ways Cousin could hurt them. After that, they called as many people as they could and organized several search parties. The members themselves separated.

Cousin saw Riki first, his smirk showing two outrageously huge, sharp fangs, one from the top curving smoothly against the one on bottom. A 'yo!' and 'hiya' passed between them before Cousin noticed that the others weren't there, noticeably the kids.

"Where they at?" The smirk disappeared.

"Midas," was the shaky answer. "Somewhere in Midas."

"You lost them."

Lost, such a strong word, especially these days. When you lose someone, you've probably lost them forever.

"They... They kinda left, and now people say they saw them walking around Midas."

_Don't mention running, don't mention there were only two of them now. Definitely don't mention that __they left yesterday while we were drunk off our asses._

Cousin's long wild hair stuck up in a vicious halo around his head. The sun shone around it. At his height, Riki was angled just right to fall in a deep shadow, and deeper still as Cousin walked over to him and gave him a swift blow to the stomach. Any ruptured organ quickly healed itself as soon as Riki coughed out the first spurt of blood, but the bruise will stay there for awhile.

Cousin didn't say anything more. Riki knew what he had to do. Find those kids, or else his big friend will serve him another knuckle sandwich.

Out of the four regular members, Riki was at the same time the most responsible and the most reckless, which was why he was taking the most dangerous route into Midas, the West Side a rock's throw away from the Blondie Academy (that's what most mongrels called the school, though Elites went there as well). Whenever he went on a pickpocket mission, he always tried to go this way. There wasn't much security here, but whatever security there was would shoot- and there isn't anything in the schedule about asking a mongrel any questions.

Of course, today just so happened to be the one of the busiest days of the year, a new generation coming out to start the rest of their lives. Riki made one slip on the tree he was going to use to launch himself across the electric gate, and some guards around the corner heard and waited for him to drop. When he did, they surrounded him with high-powered excimer lasers, or something like that. Whatever they were, Riki dodged them and ran. He managed a far lead and hid himself in a nearby building- an apartment complex. It was there that he caught the youngest kid's scent. Without a second thought, he followed its trail.

The kids were drinking too- they weren't _that_ young, after all- and they should have had hangovers from hell. So why were they in Midas? And on a day that was strictly off-limits for mongrels! Riki couldn't wait to break their neck in three different places.

That thought broke into to pieces when he found the first kid, in wolf form, skinned. It hadn't been that long, some blood still dripped off him into the small pool the boy had made for himself. Many humanoids, especially Wolves, had the ability to regenerate broken flesh. Somehow, when transformed, the healing of flayed skin didn't work so well. Besides the fact that the pain could put any person in shock and kill him in a matter of minutes, the skin's ability to stretch well enough that it could cover half a tennis court didn't help matters. Then there was the matter of hairs.

The Bison gang only had one phone, the kind that ran on electricity, not a mirror which relied on Spirit, and his lover Guy had it. He would have told his friends that the search was off, except for him, he would keep going. But, of course, that wasn't an option. He sniffed around for the other two's trail and found one; he continued on.

In his panicked, grief-stricken mind, it didn't occur to him that the scents were oddly trail-like, as in leaving a trail. For him. If the guards hadn't heard him, Riki would have recognized the scent by the gate. Of course, it was a trail, just for Riki the Black. The Blondie in the car behind Iason's limo had planned the trail. The shocking green-haired beefcake was supposed to have tied up the mongrel and wait for his car, then put the mongrel in the car. The Blondie would make quick work out of Riki, and then there would never have been the problem of Riki the Black meeting Iason Mink, again.

However, when Riki found the next child, the oldest, the girl, he began to think. Why hadn't the guys that captured the kids just kill them all at once? Wasn't it a bit of a hassle to bring them to a new spot, leaving a trail they knew they would leave behind? Riki concluded correctly that the whole thing must have been a trap. It might have started as soon as they got drunk the last night, an idea that made Riki shake. They must have gotten the kids early, knowing that the almost-dead Bison members shouldn't be disturbed yet or else they would have been in a lot of trouble. Kill them off one by one, get Riki tired and anxious, unprepared. The trap had to be for him because it was on his side.

Riki didn't like the idea that someone he didn't know knew him well enough to leave a trail on his doggone pickpocket route. But what other choice did he have other than to follow? Anyway, this was the last one... And there was the tiny chance that he was wrong. Plus, the guys responsible had to pay, and for some reason Riki believed that he could handle them on his own.

The last one was still alive, gasping for breath before succumbing to death, fully relieved from his unimaginably pain-filled dying. Riki looked around. He sniffed the air for other scents, anything else, but he couldn't smell a thing.

No, it wasn't that. He could smell everything; whoever brought the kids all over the place didn't _have_ a smell, as amazing as that sounds. Like any regular scent, the non-smell left a trail that cut through all the regular oiled respiration that soaked the air. An incensed Riki followed the absolute freshness. He followed all the way to where Bad Man one through five waited with all the doohickeys. There was just a minor confusion on what was going on.

Riki thought he was about to be skinned for his fur that would sell for about four thousand bucks, top. He wasn't that young of a Wolf so his coat wouldn't be so nice, but he was three-tailed, so his fur was thick. Then there was the added amenity of his completely black hair. Dark as midnight without closing your eyes and seeing the flow of lighter-colored darkness. But, as aforementioned, he wasn't led there so that they could skin him; they were being paid fifty grand to capture him alive and bring him to Blondie.

Seeing himself so outnumbered by men so well-prepared, Riki began to run. When he saw that they were just as good as running, he looked for a car.

When Iason came on the scene, two of the men kept on tying, so that the Blondie wouldn't have trouble with him. Another recognized the man as Iason Mink. They were quite confused when the Blondie ordered them away without giving them their pay. Shocking-green knew the man wasn't their Blondie; they had to go. They weren't going to get their pay.

Riki should have let Iason go. But, like with that obvious trail, pride overtook him, drove him to say that he needed to pay him back, any way he could. The Blondie had shrugged, uninterested in the meager offer. What would he need from a mongrel, he had said.

But as he turned around, Riki saw his face go flat again, as if he had been hit with a hard realization. Oh, yea, Riki had thought, the Blondie wanted something from him, had a couple jobs in mind, sure. So Riki tried again. That ended with the bloody cockring from hell in a (don't mention how nice) limousine with a bunch of Blondie crooks. One of them, big and muscular, wearing a sleeveless shirt, wouldn't shut the fuck up.

"This is a terrible idea, Iason! Who knows what diseases he has crawling all over his body!"

"Diseases crawl?" snickered the golden-eyed Blondie. Every now and again he and the Blondie with the slicked back hair and entrancing face would interrupt with some snide comment. And this was all the way through traffic into the highly crowded Elite restaurant. Luckily for Iason, there was a collar and leash in his ride, for Jupiter knows what reason. Still, even with the leash and the Pet ring, Riki looked further from a Pet than would a Blondie.

"Maybe so. How else do they move?" Even his voice was a bit mesmerizing. "Heiku, could you please explain to us how diseases move one place to another?"

"I'm not going to encourage you and Xian, Omaki," muttered Heiku. "However, Raoul, to make it clear, Wolves are resistant to most diseases. They can't even carry influenza; it just passes right through them."

"Look, that's not even the point!" Raoul yelled.

"You were the one who brought it up." And now Heiku was smiling at him.

"Please calm down, Raoul. You're all red in the face."

Riki was trying his hardest to ignore _that _Blondie. He smelled like… like… like good stuff. It was bad enough that he was fighting an erection whenever he thought about Iason's scent. How could something so fleeting have an impact on him, something he was supposed to hate? It was analogous to the ring, stupid thing was what was holding him back. Excruciating pain was holding him back, to be fair.

The mongrel spared a seething glance at Iason, who endured Raoul's rant with closed lids and clasped hands. He opened his ice-blue eyes momentarily to look down at him, as calm as could be, then closed them again, and once more opened them fully.

"Who the hell you lookin' at, Blondie?"

Iason furrowed his brow. "Do you have any idea who I am? Who any of these Elite are?"

"Of course I know who you are," Riki replied, smooth as silk. "You've told me. Twice. I think I could care even less the third time."

Iason ignored this sass. He realized with great astonishment that the mongrel had no idea who he really was.

"He's a mongrel, Iason. They are as ignorant as they come," Raoul said, glowering distastefully at said mongrel.

Scented Blondie answered softly, "I like to think that no one has told him. Anyway, Raoul, who we are doesn't benefit him in the least."

Riki had a strong feeling that he was going to like Scented Blondie. He seemed like just the type of Blondie that were rumored to get filed. Jupiter would take him away because he was some sort of bad Blondie. The irony amused some mongrels while others were happy with their freedoms.

"If I weren't mistaken, Elusiax-" Elusiax must be Scented Blondies last name for he frowned considerably at the distanced tone. "-you pity the rodent."

"If you are, I don't need it," Riki spat and buried his head in his arms that rested on his knees. He could hear the angry honking all around them and a few exchanges of not-so-pleasant comments.

This silenced Elusiax for the rest of the ride, which oddly also quieted everyone else. From what Riki could feel in the tension, Iason was still in the middle though he had said little, Elusiax (Riki couldn't help thinking what an appropriate last name that was for the Blondie) definitely the queen of the little chess board. It was in this small battle of pride of multiple levels that they arrived at the restaurant. Two Blondies, one whose hair curled over one shoulder and the other with softly enveloping bangs framing his face, stood at the front of the small, two-story building isolated from any other businesses, but surrounded by cars.

The group had to go around a few in order to meet the two. They greeted each them as they arrived on the curb, naming themselves Enil and Kyle, who had the bangs. Elusiax gave them both hugs. Riki didn't know Blondies were even capable of giving hugs, and nothing that looked so warm and sincere, but then he noticed Elusiax's more brown-than-blonde hair and that he had dark greenish eyes, not blue. Scented Blondie wasn't a Blondie at all; he was some tall, super popular Elite, maybe.

Kyle and Enil bowed low at the waist, and it was at this lower level they noticed a roughed up mongrel at the other end of Iason's Pet chain.

"You're not thinking of bringing him in, are you?" Kyle asked, his smile turning a perfect one-eighty. "You do know my policies on humanoids, even if they are, somehow, Pets. The policies specifically refer to mongrels in general." Enil began elbowed Kyle slightly.

"Surely we can make an exception for the _Sovereign_, Kyle."

"I've actually made promises to valuable customers that I would make exceptions for no one." Kyle's eyes narrowed severely. "No one."

Riki had the funny feeling that Kyle didn't like Iason. But it seemed as if Iason, too, was at a lost for why that would be, and perhaps everyone else. Enil elbowed him again, a little harder this time, but his friend didn't answer. He only ushered them inside with his hands, staring purposefully at Iason.

"There's a room already occupied by two humanoid Pets, just to the side there."

Iason looked upset. Riki would bet a tail that he's never been treated by anyone like that, that's how much an uppity Blondie he was.

_Damn bastard, it's a sign to let me the fuck go before they chase you outta town._ Riki grinned, only to have it fall when Iason gave him a glare. For a moment, Riki thought Iason was going to force him to sit like the regular Pets, at the feet of their masters on an elaborate pillow, eating from their hands little scraps and bits. Riki will kill Iason, for sure. But the Blondie didn't do that, and instead locked him to a post in the half-breed Pet room, where there was an garnet Dragon and colorful Bird, maybe a Parrot. Both turned their noses up in distaste, pointedly turning their backs to them.

At this moment, Riki began to pull fiercely at his leash, despite it really being a sturdy chain. Upon closer inspection, both his collar and the leash had little white speckles in what was probably steel- diamonds, diamond specks in the damn leash! How rich was this guy that he could sprinkle diamonds on his sex toys? How much of a sick fuck was he, too. Maybe he's had a humanoid Pet before...

Riki gave up soon. The hook at the other end of the leash wrapped around a sturdy marble post, probably bound to a steel column in the middle. Riki couldn't force his way out of here, so he decided to broad once more, for the next three hours. Another Pet joined them after two, some Fox girl with short orange hair that kept looking at him, but Riki paid her no mind, he was too busy planning some escape.

But none came to mind, other than perhaps killing Iason, but that was highly unlikely. In the improbable chance that he gets the time, place, and energy all right, he would be a Blondie-murdering mongrel. He might as well skin his own damn self. Perhaps knocking him out temporarily... cutting off the finger with the damn ring... and making a run with it. With the cockring still inseparable from his penis. Yep, that was also a great plan. 

So what it came down to was that Iason is going to have to remove his ring or dismiss him completely from Pethood, unless the fucker decided to put him in eternally, or make him a Furniture, or sell him into cheap labor- unless he just doesn't let him go home, period. Riki began to bang his head against the marble column to which his leash was attached, scaring the Bird and Dragon, but more-or-less capturing the Fox's interest.

Again, Riki was uninterested. He always had said to others and many that he would rather kill himself than be a slave or Pet or some other such thing, but he knew now that he wouldn't kill himself over this. Not now. Plus, he still had a chance to really screw things up for Iason so that, at least, the Blondie wouldn't want him anymore.

After awhile, Iason came and escorted him out to the car, still looking a little angry. Riki had just decided he would make a scene but thought better of it. Something told him he would get a little more than a stinging jolt to Riki Jr.

While walking towards the car, another vehicle passed in front of them and they had to wait for it to pass. There on that same curb Riki smelled a whiff of that non-smell. It was strong and deliberate- too strong, like a piece of meat on a plate leading to a clever trap by skinners. If he noticed, he would fall, fall hard. So Riki pretended not to notice. As the time went on impossibly long, the smell of nothingness became stronger and stronger until the mongrel finally gave in to temptation to find the source.

But the only people behind him were more Blondies, obviously also waiting for a ride. Weird thing was that they all stared at him, smiling just a little, as if they wanted him to notice him, they wanted him to fall. Riki subconsciously moved closer to Iason, bumping against him.

Iason obliviously thought Riki, perhaps, was a bit lonely from his time in the Pet room, and probably hungry. He loosened his hold on the chain and wrapped an arm around Riki, who was hotter than any living thing he's ever touched.

At this, the non-smell Blondies snarled, just briefly. Riki didn't know whether to move away to please them or to move closer to protect himself. Mongrel pride or not, he couldn't do anything against all those angry Blondies. He was actually relieved to get back inside the limo, but he wasn't too happy to sit at Iason's feet and be handed what seemed to be a container of food. He changed his mind once more when he saw there was zebra inside. Real fucking zebra. One part of his mind reminded him that his pride was at stake with this offering, another screamed it was zebra, you bloody wanker. He's only had it twice, and that was the only thing he ate both those months. The mongrel has already gone two weeks without much food except for recently thrown away pieces of meat or bread, and now there was zebra.

And it was so big, a slab! How much was this? The bits his gang had saved up for made up a corner of this piece and costed three thousand konits. Why? They recently lost eight of their members and didn't want to waste the money on drugs and alcohol and so bought zebra. It was money well-spent.

Riki was already eating while thinking these thoughts, each stuffing engorging a self-hatred sort of anger. When he finished, he loathed himself so much, but was so satisfied, that his conflicting self caused his eyes to water. A few tears escaped as soon as he dropped himself into his knees and covered himself with his arms like on the way here.

This amused Iason greatly, he could easily break through that pride barrier if he continued giving the mongrel things he liked, or couldn't help starting to like. At least, that's what he thought.

Raoul didn't say anything the whole ride, though he was still seething over this obvious soot to Iason's so far untarnished record.

Each thought his own when they arrived at Nico Tathen's Elite and Pet clothing and items stores, Galleria Fantastipo. None of them had lost their sleepiness as they had hoped, even with the shock of the new member to their group, who seemed to think that his angry glares would get him freed. Even with the poor dispositions, they looked forward to Nico, Treasurer of the State, who loved fashion more than money, but not as much as a certain Sky Captain, Co-President of the War Council, Aether Illini.

"Eadni, dear!" He was even worse than Omaki with Elusiax's little pet names, and couldn't care less. The public was his audience and anywhere he stood was his stage and the nearest pair of eyes was all the limelight he needed. Voted most eccentric (close second Junior Physician Yutaku Iman) for his yearbook, if one didn't know Nico Tathens they either didn't read the name signed at the bottom of their checks or weren't alive in Amoi.

This time, Nico gave Elusiax and the others hugs, stopping at Riki, wondrously curved eyebrows raised to the middle of his high, fitting forehead. His hair looped in a mess of tiny ringlets reaching to his thighs, pulled loosely back with a blue ribbon that matched his darker blue tunic and breeches outfit. On the next page of that same yearbook, he had another picture of himself, as most attractive.

The bright blue eyes followed Riki's chain from his neck to Iason's hand, and he puckered his non-too-small lips in his usual characteristic expressions of anything unique, slightly pushing in his lower lip.

"What's your name?"

"Riki," Riki hurriedly said after Iason moved his hand towards his ringed finger.

"Ooooo-kay!" Nico turned to Eadni, finding that Riki fit his bill for whatever test he had in his head. "Where you want to go first? Since you were gone, I've added- well, not me, really, Megala, of course. But anyway, we've added seven new stores individually, three new floors with about ten or eleven places to shop each, and Kyle has a little franchise up there somewhere, and _Aether_..." He paused, amusing those he had commented to with such emphasis on his 'bestest best friend'. "He might be coming, too."

Suddenly, Nico made eyes with someone across the street, but Riki was the only one to see the split-second visual exchange.

"But your mongrel can't come in. Why doesn't he just stay with your bodyguard? Odi, was it?"

"Now, what is this? First Kyle and now you," Iason murmured, his fiery anger easily hidden. "Your 'policy', as well. Something which you presume I know about though I've never visited?" 

"Eeeh, yes, policy. Uh, yes, it's my policy. Leave Riki with Odi, and we'll get going."

"What is going-"

"Or you can stay outside with him?" Nico offered; he looked less confident than Kyle in his threat but was nonetheless very serious over his decision.

"Fine, I will stay with my new Pet."

"Iason! Don't be stubborn," Raoul coaxed, greatly irritated. He had already decided to forgo the evening dinner at Serendipity; he was just too tired.

Iason paid none of them any mind. With perfect placidity, he told them, "These sudden events has put me in sour mood, not to mention the lack of sleep I had last night. I will have to retire for the rest of the night and will go home by taxi. Perhaps we can meet again later this month? Eadni, welcome back."

"Iason!"

"Come on, Iason. Just leave Riki and we can go have a good time."

"Strange day this has been."

Iason ignored his friends, contacting the Spirited mirrors of his personal taxi service. While he and Riki waited for the taxi's arrival, Riki noticed the exact same Blondies that were at the restaurant, the ones who had given Nico a visual reminder to probably keep Riki out of the mall. What had the mongrel done to deserve any of this was anyone's guess, but he had just been had today. How were they so quick to get against Iason at the places he was going to go, with or without Riki?

Something was super fishy, but Riki had bigger stuff to fry. The taxi came and he was faced with the very surreal realization that he was going to Iason Mink's home, a place where Pet's did all sorts of things for their Master's.

But Riki the Dark was no one's Pet, if he had anything to say about it.


	4. Close Chances?

**Author's Note**: I was in a very good mood while partway through the beginning. I got a review! I'm so happy! And it had a couple of questions that I'm sure others have but aren't saying anything about, sadly. But this review has really perked up my mood and has guaranteed an update this week for , though no one has reviewed here. :D

Follow me on Wordpress! I'm Shinashi As Usual! I have what's happening and some tidbits on some stories I'm thinking of and soem private thoughts you can totally ignore... But I also have livejournal and email... So don't be afraid to talk. c:

**Summary**: Riki fights back for a futile chance for freedom, Eadni has a close meeting with a dangerous Mongrel, and the Sentinels have to prepare for everything in between.

**REVIEWS, MY FIC'S LIFEBLOOD!**:

For Prologue, by MikkiSenpai on Adultfanfiction - I have a LOT of the ANK spin offs, but this1 is completely unique. Its a bit of a tough read for a total ANK fan like myself. I was having a hard time with the excess of information and descriptions on the mutant blondies as well as mongrels being larger than blondies. I'm not really sure how the story will progress because it didn't really say much in way of the plot itself. I totally understand the characters and yes I whole-heartedly agree with you on the CRAZY Raoul aspect (that blondie give me the creeps mutating or not). Also is Riki & Iason together or did they have their minds wiped; did they never meet each other or did they meet in an alternate universe; and will Katze, Yui, Aki, Darryl, & Regiland (Pookie) be in this story and how will their characters fit into this "forgotten day" world? I love to read and I am open to new things so I look forward to your next chapter!

AN: Sorry about all the information. I wanted to get it out of the way because I had a lot of it. And only that mongrel is bigger than Blondies; he's huge~! And just make sure to read the summaries at the beginning. You understand the characters, yay! I thought they would be the most confusing, lol. Riki and Iason will… be… together… But anything else about their or anybody else's relationship is a secret. The only person that won't be in this story, at least, not in the way he was in Taming Riki is Voshka's flame (OMG, I forgot his name and there's no way for me to get it!). I hope you don't like Regiland too much. I have to spoil it: he's not going to last long. Everything else is a secret! Thanks for the review!

Chapter 3 of… Close Chances?

Iason was very much ill-prepared for the nearly all-out fist fight that ensued between him and Riki. The taxi driver wisely drew up the tinted window between him and them, knowing full well that the gossip just wasn't worth the wrath of the Sovereign. It may be years until he saw the man again, but he wasn't the type to take chances.

"Let me go, you son of a bitch!" was the first thing Riki said as soon as they were comfortable in the car, swinging up a leg to catch Iason square in his surprised face. Riki's lucky strike surprised the mongrel himself, and he paused just long enough for Iason, face coldly serene, to grab him around his neck. Riki knew the Blondie could easily bruise his neck, possibly press a thumb to the left to break it, yet Iason simply shoved him face-down into his lap.

After a few more minutes of struggling between the two, Iason managed to grip the thankfully weaker man's wrist. He held them there as he called a surprised Daryl, giving him orders to help the remaining bodyguards with Riki, and to bring the chains and the expensive ruby Pet ring that he bought while on a trip to Aristia, and, last but certainly not least, set up a Pet room and the corner of his living room for said dangerous Pet and his performances.

That last part required a bit of transfiguration of the penthouse from the Center Light, a sort of motherboard made by Megala Chi that could control certain aspects of people's dwellings. For example, a secret part of the Center resided in the wall that completed a corner of the room. A DNA signature, Iason's and some others, brought out the keypad, and the code led to a secret Observatory, hidden by Megala's pure ingeniousness.

A few miles away, Darly followed these directions.

"I saw him take a Furniture ring, so I thought he was a-going to get a Furniture," Askel said.

Freyn added, "And what sort of Pets needs chains so soon? This isn't going to be a safety issue is it, Daryl?"

"I don't think so," Darly answered half-mindedly, walking with the two bodyguards to the elevator. Secretly, he was relieved. Master Iason wouldn't want to get a new Furniture and a new Pet simultaneously. And one who needed chains? Certainly not. Daryl was excited to stay in the exclusive house of the Sovereign for just a while more, until this momentarily naughty Pet is tamed.

He was so relieved that he didn't mind the fact that he was interrupted in visiting Yui today, though he was very much looking forward to meeting the young boy. The adorable thing that loved animals, so much that Master Raoul bought him a kitten and bird on two separate occasions for no particular reason. Those two occasions almost made up the fact that Raoul was a complete dick to him.

They used Eos' Center Lights to warp through mirrors to the basement. It would be even more time-saving for the licensed Sorcerers to build warp mirrors from floor to floor and door to door, but going through the mirrors (and even electromagnetic transporters and the like) proved unhealthy after prolonged use. Anyway, it would have been freaky to warp in front of a Blondie master pinning a mongrel to the hood of a taxi car.

Unfortunately, Daryl did warp this scene and all he could manage to say was, "It's a mongrel."

"Nice to fucking meet you," spat the mongrel. His copper skin shining with sweat and lips broken in two places, it was a wonder Iason only had a miniscule bruise on his cheekbone, like someone pinched him. He held the mongrel's hands above his head and forced a knee between his. He replaced the Furniture ring with the beautiful ruby Pet one. All information on the Unclassified Pet mongrel transferred to this gorgeous work of art.

Riki looked down spitefully, eying everyone in turn with a hate-filled glare. "You all are complete FUCKERS!" he screamed, finally succumbing to an all-out screaming riot, kicking, thrashing, and cursing even through the pain of the Pet ring, which seemed a bit more potent than the other one, for some reason (Reason was that the other one was a Furniture ring for thumbs, adjustable for size, of course).

"Not to be, like, impudent or anything, Sir, but are you serious?" Freyn asked Iason. "He has three tails."

"Do I ever joke?" Iason answered.

"Nope..."

Iason nodded, a bit consoled that things were finally going as he wanted them to go. No obstacles in _his_ house. "Chain him. Daryl, hold his legs."

With much difficulty, they got the chains on, everyone but Iason sweating just a bit. Iason was sweating a bit better than a bit. He clasped his end to his wrist, holding still as he tested the small mongrel's strength and ended pleased with how he held out. Riki would be no problem physically, as he had thought. Not for him anyway.

He was absurdly thin for the 'half-human monster' he heard about in school. Matter-of-fact, his futile prideful manner with so frail a body made him kind of... cute. And Iason noticed something else. Something with the illustrators of his schoolboy textbooks blatantly left out.

"You have ears on the side of your head," Iason remarked.

Riki, bemused, lifted an eyebrow at the Blondie and his lackeys as they stared at the rather true observation. It was just thought that because certain humanoids already had a set of animalistic ears there would be no need for human ones, right?

"You ain't never seen a Wolf up close before?"

"No, I have not." And apparently neither did the authors of his books, Iason believed. "I wonder why they have stayed on. Evolution?"

"I can make them disappear, but it's just easier to have them sit there. Uses less Spirit."

"Your other tails are disappearing," Daryl commented, fascinated. "Does that have to do with Spirit, too?"

"Yea. I was using it trying to escape from you pricks. Hey, we gonna stand here all day while ya'll quiz me and shit?"

Iason decided that it was time he focused on his task: get this Riki to copulate in front of him as soon as possible. "What a mouth you have on you, Pet," he said, pulling Riki's chain to the nearest warp mirror that will automatically send him to his floor. He wouldn't be able to access the mirrors for another week, as was advised by certain doctors and Sorcerers.

Riki has been through few mirrors, and he didn't trust this one in the bottom of the Eos Tower one bit. But he didn't want anyone to know he was just a teeny tiny bit afraid to go through so instead he said, "I'm not your Pet," and closed his eyes going through the warp.

Though it was less than a second, a buzzing feeling washed over him with a forceful hum, much stronger than any of the private mirrors in clubs on anything like that. Much more powerful; that probably gave rise to the limits of use in the first place.

Riki's split second of fear was not lost on Daryl, who smiled minimally. He gathered his master's cape and gloves before quickly hustling to the built-in bar to fetch Iason a glass of wine. The Blondie himself led Riki to his corner of the living quarters, a brightly golden circle raised from the rest of the marble flow, atop it floated a hover seat.

At this moment, with Daryl and Iason both preoccupied, the bodyguards a bit more relaxed at the door, and the door still set up for warp to the basement, to freedom, Riki thought, for a second, of escaping as soon as Iason released the wrist cuff. But that was all that was needed for the Pet ring to react to this particular pattern of brain waves and chemical brains, and it gave him the most painful shocking in his entire life. This was even worse than the taser, probably because it was shooting straight through his dick and up and down from his toes to the tip of his ears.

Iason only smiled a bit at the scream, heartlessly pulling the leash to keep the agonized mongrel following him. But he pulled towards the door, much to the others' confusion. He pushed the mongrel up against the mirror, its warping mechanisms shut-down, the whole thing disappearing to look like a regular sliding door once more.

"What the hell?" Riki gasped, still in pain though the shocks have stopped.

"It doesn't open after such a distance of warping."

"Then how the hell do I get out?" Riki whispered this, rapidly losing consciousness.

"Perhaps, when it turns back into a door, you could use my ring?" Iason said this with a perfectly flat face as Riki fainted in his arms.

Daryl had paused at Riki's scream and now stopped again.

His master just said a joke.

Joking was all the group back at the Galleria was doing. The confusion of Iason leaving lasted a short time with Nico Tathens around. He spun them all into the mall before anyone decided to follow Iason. He pushed them away from the watchful Blondie on the other side of the street, the one Riki saw give the eye to Nico. That 'one' had given, with his partners, the Treasurer a clear message to close his Galleria to humanoids just a few hours ago or face more than a few sucker-punches to the stomach. Such a large Blondie that one had been and now he was regular sized!

Store after store, they delivered playful banter towards one another, vying for Elusiax's attention, boasting on recent accomplishments once more. They were a bit relieved Iason was gone- his achievements always seemed to overshadow theirs even if Elusiax said they all weighed the same to him just because their own achievements were important to themselves.

Raoul managed to get a few more pieces of art through license and sell them, making another small forture. Xian, walking with an uneasy gait, talked about his successful hotel business, with the help of Nico and Kyle, and his work as Secretary of State, easing some unrest about mongrel uprisings and what not in Tanagura. Omaki managed to swindle a good amount of money through blackmail (he was chided a bit for this, but they knew he was more than incorrigible by now). Heiku had several breakthroughs in his brain research, went through painstaking operations (all good) and published a few well-received articles on his efforts. Nico, of course, had his mall, which was definitely not filled only with them. Every type of person from tourists to the Deliverer of Discipline, also called Konami Sung's right-hand man, were there shopping for themselves and for gifts. The number of young Blondies and Pets were staggering, but they were the target demographic after all. It was surprising how their interests ran together.

"Oh, forget about this mall of yours. Have you and _Aether Illini_ reconciled, yet?" Omaki groped for information. "Heard you and him had some sort of falling out?"

At this moment, Nico once again made eye contact with the abhorrent Blondie messenger, who somehow managed to get right behind them as they walked, vanishing into a store momentarily just as Nico spotted him.

"Falling out? As if we had something to fall out of?" Nico digressed, "Look at his jewelry place! They do all sorts of piercing for Pets and Furniture, if you want, Raoul."

"You've changed the subject," Raoul murmured, yawning. In the back of his mind he was stirring up a lecture for Iason to get rid of the mongrel as a ridiculous _mongrel Pet_. An oxymoron in itself.

"So have you, sleepyhead."

Raoul turned to the others, smiling a little. "They have not gotten back together."

"We don't have that sort of relationship!" Nico shouted. He got a bit red, and scared, in the face.

"Now, Nico, they are only teasing," Elusiax said, softly coaxing voice immediately calming him. "Though I'm a bit interested in these turn of events, I will respect your apparent wishes to refrain from talking about it. Boys?"

Omaki merely shrugged, and Xian waved. "Yes, yes, we'll back off from it all." Xian showed his crossed fingers to Heiku and Omaki behind him.

"Isn't that your Pet, Heiku? Your Ima?"

Heiku looked over the rails of the walkways that went every which way in the mall, holding thousands of pounds of human traffic going to and fro. Sure enough, Ima was among the traffic with a few of her Pet friends of both genders. A beautiful purple-haired babe from Aristia, she had cost two million konits, something which Heiku had saved up for a special occasion, and that was to get Ima. She has only had two masters until she came under Heiku, and she had enough good curves, muscle and good cellulite for the rest of her friends. He won a game of poker with several wealthy Elites so as to have dibs on her first as soon as her last master began selling.

Even after having her for a year, he had no intentions of selling, frustrating those who wanted a turn with her. They believed Heiku was keeping the prize to himself for so long to jack up her price over time, but in reality, Heiku's heart fell at the thought of losing her to anyone else, having her perform for anyone else, for anyone else to be her damn master. At this moment, for as long as possible, she was his and his alone.

They caught up to her and her friends, all toting bags of Pet materials and clothing.

"This place is the most wonderful place, ever!" cried one of the girls zealously. Ima nudged her, obviously embarrassed. Her friend only giggled out a, "Lord Tathens."

Ima then feigned a look around the Elite group, making it conspicuous just so that her master could raise his left eyebrow right in the middle. She loved how it did that.

"Master? Where is Lord Iason?" She held out her bags for Heiku to inspect.

"He resigned early for the day, Ima- Oh, this looks nice," he said, talking about a two-piece bathing suit designed by Nico Tathens himself, Ugly Charms the label.

Ima nodded, saying, "Does him leaving have anything to do with the mongrel he was toting around?" She withered a little at Heiku's frowning face.

"What have I told you about spying and snooping, Ima? Shall I do some punishing today?"

"That is entirely up to the Master, usually, but if you're giving a Pet like me a choice, I'd rather not have any punishing today, _Sir_."

Raoul scoffed, "What a cheeky Pet." Unfortunately for his sensibilities, Heiku enjoyed his Pet's cheekiness, and he only plucked her nose in reprimand.

"Now that you have been duly punished, I will answer your question by saying it is none of your business." All the Pets seemed to fail in energy at this response as they had been hoping to know what was going on with the Sovereign and some mongrel. Could it be the very unthinkable, that the mongrel, as it had looked like, was his Pet? But the Pets were sent away after this.

For Ima, this was more than her being nosey. That mongrel looked awfully familiar.

"How can you let your pet get away with talking to you like that?" Raoul demanded.

"Unlike you-" Omaki nudged Xian, "-the rest of us do manage to like our Pets."

Xian added, "And we don't sell them at the slightest indiscretion. Surprisingly, that's not how Plus got fired. What was it again? Boredom, right?

"Yes, whatever." Raoul hated answering these questions, even if they didn't cause suspicion.

Xian knew he was lying. Not what about exactly. Omaki knew just as vaguely. Raoul had the habit of changing his stance or sitting position for no apparent reason, whenever he was lying. It was what Omaki had nudged Xian for; as usual, it was amusing to see.

Eadni gave them a look which said, quite to the point, to stop. It was a careful, heated narrowing of the eyes that made them shiver and shut up quick. Over many things Eadni had some funny nudges in his conscience that made him think that some things were just too complicated to be discussed, or joked about. Raoul's little Pet problem felt like one of them.

At that precise moment of giving them the look, Eadni heard a small sound behind him. It was so soft and brief, he was sure he hadn't really heard anything at all. But afterwards he heard it a couple more times. Still, knowing that something was there actually scared him a bit. Turning in the sound's direction, he didn't see anything at all.

The sound went around him as Eadni moved around and through his circle of friends as they walked. The Watcher finally said he needed to go to the restroom. As usual he caught the look the others gave Raoul, the biggest of them. The Blondie didn't go in with him, but he hovered by the door just in case. There have been more than a few times Eadni needed this sort of protection. However, it would do no good against an invisible opponent.

As soon as he was finished, the object that followed him made itself clear.

"Where is Riki?" said the gigantic mongrel quietly.

At his five tails swaying generously and bountiful shaggy hair spread around his head, Eadni suddenly had a recollection of his many, many years in Watch. Not the dozens of years as it should have been, but hundreds of years in that warped space, hundreds! The real math could be done later, but he could see the hundreds of children pass through his memory at a dizzying speed along with the true origin of Blondies, how they grew, what was really taught in Watch before their memories were swiped, the horribly busy days of the Watchers, some who never made it out of Watch or were fired midway of the fully sixty years, and so forth. The mongrel, by extinct, had to catch the Elite before he fell all the way to the floor.

"What the hell wrong with you? That scared of me?"

"Amon?"

Now Amon nearly dropped his burden. "How you know my name? You know, that's fishy as hell. Huh? What? Ya' mumblin'." Amon leaned over closer.

"You… You came to me- Sprung, while you were drunk and you told me your name."

"Hm," Amon only snorted, as if it was normal for a normal to Spring to an Elite at whatever time he felt like it. "Where's Riki?"

Eadni interrupted, "How do you Spring? Anywhere you want?"

Amon shrugged, a bit impatient. "I just ask meself a question, ya' know, 'bout location, and my body just Springs itself where I need to be. I can't do nothing with nobody else though, a Specialized Solitary Springer is what the locals say 'bout me. But enough 'bout me! Where the fuck is Riki? And don't try to lie 'cause my Springen is never mistaken."

"Three tails and short black hair?" Eadni asked, slowly, still a bit shaken.

"Like mine black? Super black with black, black eyes, too?"

Eadni had to stifle a smile at his funny language, which seemed worse than Raoul's. "Yes." He hesitated, but not for long. Amon's gruff, low growl made his knees weak in terror. "Iason Mink made him his… Pet today, after saving him from skinners."

It took a minute for this information to sink in, and like quicksand it got to the bottom. "Just for today?"

"Probably not. Actually, from what I saw," he whispered very, very low, "he was absolutely taken with Riki as soon as he had his sight on him. He really is a lovely boy."

Amon snarled, his large fangs brazen. He didn't like this, not one bit. He was unaware that his angry presence was scaring poor Elusiax. Standing over six feet, a height which was the most people could keep up though he was a staggering nine-foot-three, with a ridiculous breadth of shoulders taping down to a muscular wait, and dressed in all black, yes, he was scary. Not to mention the fangas or the claws on his hands and bare feet, the feet that made very soft taps if he walked close to you.

"Skinners? What you know about them skinners?"

"The humanoids at the orphanages fear them."

"You be going there?"

"Yes…" Eadni couldn't help but blush. He's been keeping the fact that he visits the Ceres orphanages on a weekly basis a huge secret. What would people think if they knew?

He missed Amon's brief smile before the mongrel sobered up. "What about kids? You see a couple a' kids? That's what he was supposed to be a-going after…"

He abruptly went invisible just as Raoul came in.

"Eadni? Are you okay?" he asked, and then, "There's no one here?"

"Hm? No, why do you ask?" Eadni, shakily, finished his unneeded task of washing his hands.

The confused Raoul left with Eadni, who anticipated the sounds of Amon's heavy stuff, but concluded the mongrel must have Sprung back home because he could hear him no longer. The encounter made him nervous, just a bit, but the mongrel only seemed interested in Riki and some children (Eadni worried about them). He didn't seem much like their father, yet definitely could be a big brother. Really, his enormousness was all that registered. He was over six feet, could Spring wherever on the Great Continent, and become invisible. Plus, he was a humanoid. At the same time he was potentially the most dangerous man on the planet, he was untouchable.

Amon was also the most gorgeous man Eadni's ever seen, mongrel or no.

Later on, several people called in for the party, unable to go for some reason or another. A few of them had become Guardians and wanted to spend some first-night quality time with their new catch- uh, wards. It was then generally agreed that the part at Serendipity could wait awhile, when everyone was in the mood to go, Iason in particular. They were escorted home by Odi before he, too, retired to the penthouse that night. Eadni heard some more steps behind him, but they were different from Amon's, and untrustworthy, so he rushed along into his room. A disappointed Yui welcomed Raoul early. And Omaki, Xian, and Heiku planned their own little party with Nico, who, by then, had made up with Aether Illini.

Unlike what Riki thought, this day wasn't exactly lousy. Certain bodyguards, of the most incredible danger to him (and Iason, and Heiku, and Nico, and Juthian, and Aertis and many, many more), had their lazy ears only slightly pricked, as they have been having a slightly uneventful century. They were the Secret Service of Sentinels that truly reported the true underground works of Amoi to Jupiter, non-smell Blondie's and Elites, who spied on peers and colleagues to bribe, betray, file, or kill. Some they recruited: the older ones loyal to Jupiter and the youngster too scared to go against her with their 'hidden' powers. But a huge beast like Raoul or a freak like Omaki would be killed on the spot, those with brains too, like Yutaku Iman of the medical and education services. None of them, it was mostly agreed, would make good Sentinels, and there was no way they would go up against a friend like Iason Mink and his latest obsession Riki the Dark.

This was precisely the Sentinels' biggest priority. Though ill-prepared, they had to separate the Sovereign and his Pet mongrel as soon as possible. They had gotten lucky when Juthian aged out on Xian, that Suuki and Aki were on different levels of intelligence and didn't congregate often, and Yousi disappeared from Amoi entirely and quietly when he was caught, and Nico and Aether were only playing around, and Raoul wasn't in the least bit interested in his Furniture, or Konami Sung in students, and who knows where was Ayuda or Enyu or Amon Qentu (another huge priority, no pun intended). But all of that meant nothing because it didn't look like Iason was going to let go of Riki anytime soon; it didn't look it would go so well at all.

It wasn't good a week later when the class of Aertis Jin graduated, two weeks later of Riki driving Iason completely mad, three weeks later where Iason finally resorted to personal physical punishment rather than the Pet ring, four weeks of them tip-toeing around each other but not daring to let the other go, and finally a month went past and it was time to reorganize the Grids, the part magical, part mechanical (like Jupiter herself) defense mechanisms that surrounded Amoi and Tanagura like domes.

The Sentinels had to also train that month for the crises that will inevitably arise. Many a conspiracy all over Amoi, from mongrel to Elite to just plain terrorist planned their coup on the week of reorganizing the Grids. Most Blondies participated in this magical event, and hated it more than anything in the world. Fights broke out, friendships fell out, and Bars dropped out. Plenty of make-believe conspiracies flopped out of these events or else there would be true chaos.

If the mongrel children were kidnapped any other day, it might have been different. Riki would have surely been captured by the Class 8 Sentinel, who chose that day because it was the craziest of the year and Iason would be busy, perhaps. Then he would have been killed, but, no, it was on this day Iason Mink met with his good friend Eadni Elusiax and traveled near that street for lunch. For Riki, this may have been the luckiest day of his life.

------Review, review, review!


	5. The Spies Again?

**Summary a.k.a. Extended Title: **The non-smell Blondies get a little closer... Part 1! Iason and many friends have to work with a few strange Blondies who seem to look at Riki a lot...

**Warnings**: Sex-iness! Obsessive Blondie that we all love dearly!

uChapter 4 of... The Spies Again?/u

"Grid," was the first thing that came out of Iason's mouth that morning, and then, "Riki." After a month, it was the first time he has said anything other than the mongrel's name in his sleep. That was what he thought anyway. He had no idea that several times that month, something in his deep subconscious caused him to say "Rawool" and "E-at-Ni" or just "Nini" much more often than Riki.

Riki was on his arm, handcuffed to the top left bedpost. His breathing was still deep with sleep.

Riki has been well-behaved since his taming last week, and Iason had been letting him go with snide comments here and there, but Riki had pushed him away last night during sex. This led to what Iason actually did call rape. Any other time, he would say lovemaking, as in love that has yet to be made. Riki believed it all rape.

It was unbelievably good. Why Jupiter forbid it actually became understandable: he could do it for the rest of his life and never get tired. He didn't think he will ever be satisfied, not even this morning where he had to feel his very best. If not for him, he had to be in good spirits for his friends. They haven't quite forgiven him, nor has he made up for, his leaving on Eadni's welcoming day.

But he wanted to fuck his beloved once more.

Iason set soft kisses to the hot neck, making his Pet stir. One hand trailed over Riki's bruised hips and up to pinch a nipple, something that he had found out Riki was particularly fond of.

Riki gasped, then growled, and then remembered the Pet ring. All Iason had to do was get his Master ring and fiddle with it, and for Malachi knows how long he would writhe in either painful or pleasurable agony. So Riki had to calm himself.

But that was impossible. His body simply loved Iason's touch, his cool relentless hands, insisting lips, crushing hips.

_Gods, that guy got a dick on 'im... _ Riki couldn't help admit. Not as big as Cousin, but big enough for Riki to dread each time they were together. Sometimes, he succumbed only so Iason wouldn't be so rough during his ravishes.

Today he was gentle, and Riki moaned in response, the same short groan that Iason had grown to love over the past month. It was so hesitant, and because of that, a very real reaction to his touches, or whenever he was asked to perform. As Riki handled himself carefully, his facade will fall as soon as he made that sound, and again, and again, again.

Iason sucked him hungrily, while two fingers worked Riki's entrance below. So hot! The luscious feeling of his muscles moving and squeezing brought Iason to a frenzy. The Blondie swallowed the organ, down to the very root, where surprising hairs grew at the base. Like most Elites, the Sovereign himself had forgotten that most other creatures grew hair in places other than the head. Iason brought his hand down from teasing Riki's small, delectable nipples to tease through his nether curls, circling the base, and shoved his fingers harder up his ass, deeper. Riki's handcuffs clanked against the post.

That groan again. Iason's own member became impatient for its own amount of attention, not exactly the mouth-and-fangs kind- he learned from that stupid mistake- but the sun-don't-shine kind was just fine. Iason leaned over Riki's sweating body, kissed his neck again, whispered, "My Pet, my love."

Yes, he loved his mongrel. It didn't take long to find out that Riki was everything he ever wanted and whatever he could ever wished for. Something about him made him complete. Something about him made life wholly bearable and worthy. His Pet, his Riki.

"Iason! Please! Slow down!"

Apparently, Iason had gotten too excited. He had intended for this to be good for Riki, for once. He slowed his pace, sinking in slowly, piecemeal, enjoying the warmth and wetness. Luckily, in his obsessive stupor he remembered to slather some oil between them again or else 'slow down' wouldn't be the plea. Just screams, like the first nights.

"Oh, Riki, you feel wonderful."

"Nnn... Right in the morning, you horny Blondie?" gasped Riki, a half smile, half snarl curling around his fangs.

Horny Blondie answered this by almost stabbing his hips into his unwilling captive; Riki yelled out meaningless apologies. He wasn't sorry, but he was willing to throw away pride to say it so pitifully.

Iason went easy again, enjoying himself more and more as he began to feel that great goodness building up, even more when Riki helplessly ascended in pleasure himself.

How in the world did he ever enjoy watching a regular Pet? The Pet was just a performer, a superficial form of sexual activity. Compared to flesh against flesh, a mongrel, no, a person who reasoned with himself, wanted and did not want- this was perfection. With Riki here, every other Pet was just a doll, each one only a different look, but giving the same wooden act.

Riki strangled a cry, but came nonetheless, striping both their stomach's with with his seed, just as sweltering hot as everything else about him. Again, perfect. Iason joined him not too long after, ruthlessly milking himself inside his Pet, making the end almost unbearably painful for the mongrel.

"Fucking hell," Iason cursed, courtesy of a certain bad-mouthed mongrel. Then, he made the mistake of falling over Riki, and the mongrel bit him, hard, on the shoulder. Iason was just quick enough to jump back in time to only have small, bleeding bite marks on his shoulder. It hardly hurt, and, not surprisingly, they began to heal.

It was ironic that the saliva from the same bite that gave him the marks also healed them. The Sovereign then slapped Riki twice then went for his ring, placing Riki in a state of wild pleasure, with the help of magic that induced the same level of intoxicating pleasure as a regular aphrodisiac. He let him stay like that while he took his shower and came back to his lovely Pet begging for mercy. The Blondie gave it and helped Riki to take and shower, to get dressed, much to the Pet's mortification. Then they had a small breakfast, the only meal Riki was allowed to eat.

Riki had refused the food at first, but for every day he didn't eat, Iason added a day where he wouldn't drink. The hotter seasons were coming up, and a wolf already stayed a steady hundred-oh-four-point-six. When, out of extreme thirst and hallucinating about a puddle of water in the middle of the floor, he began to eat. But Iason only allowed one meal a day; he would have to ask for more. With it, he could also have more water or whatever else he wanted to drink. Riki had only asked three times, once the last three weeks.

Iason only smiled each time Riki drunk the caffeinated coffee with his juice and three glasses of water.

"So where are we going today? Try out a new sex toy or whip on me?" Riki asked sullenly, leaning down in his passenger seat of the sleek car. He licked his lips, glad that Iason took a bit longer eating today (Iason did it on purpose).

"Do you know what the Grid is, Riki?"

"I know what a grid is."

"No, Riki. The Grid is the magically physical border that surrounds Amoi and once more around Tanagura, including Midas and Ceres."

"So, like," Riki said, trying to wrap his mind around an invisible barrier surrounding the whole place, "Does Jupiter control it with her god-like powers?"

"She's not 'god-like', she is a goddess."

"She's a wannabe-" Riki immediately shut up. Iason gave him a hard look while having one hand on the wheel of the car, the other tickling that damn pearl (was ruby, then emerald) ring.

Iason easily continued, "She controls everything. However, because of all the constant threats that bombard the Grid on a daily basis, the Elites of Tanagura, we Blondies mostly, have to redesign and readjust the Grid once a year."

"Holy shit on a stick. That must take a hella long time."

Iason, pleased to know that Riki at least understood this much, nodded.

"It's also very difficult and mind-numbingly uninteresting seventy percent of the time. So difficult and boring, in fact, that every year I manipulate some acquaintances to assign me at least with my closest friends."

Riki sat up.

"Eadni will be there, of course, among many others, and a few whose names I will not recall because we do not interact at all, for I do not have that many close friends."

The mongrel snarled. He knew Iason mentioned Eadni only because his tail, which he grabbed, would wag in excitement. He liked Eadni, a lot. Like Raoul, he at first pestered Iason endlessly about letting him go 'home' amongst a 'familiar environment'. Unlike Raoul, he wasn't trying to send him away because he thought he was the scum of the earth, but because he was a 'human being' that needed his 'friends' and/or 'family'. The words themselves encouraged Riki, until Iason told Eadni that him staying with him was much safer than the streets of the slums and then asked him to remember how they had found Riki in the first place. A strange look had passed over Eadni's face, and he let the matter go. Still, he gave Riki candies and gifts and interesting mirror and electronic games, and a couple of solitary board games as well after hearing how Iason made him stay in the penthouse most of the time. Didn't want him escaping, he had said.

"What am I supposed to do the whole time?"

"Congregate with the other Pets. For once."

Riki scoffed and scuttled down his seat to brood over the dashboard.

"I hope you do not think that all I have done to you is all that I can do to you."

Riki didn't like his tone. That was the punishing tone. Usually it would spark the rebellious streak in him, but not today. He was still a bit hungry and way too thirsty and sore to get any sort of punishment. He still had the bruises from his caning last week, and the punch, so far unexplained, from Cousin. He needed rest. If let go that day, he wouldn't make it to the street.

"It will a twelve hour work day, and there will be three Pet performances. The readjustment lasts three weeks-"

"Holy shit!"

"-so be prepared to perform, Riki."

Riki's Pet ring gave several stinging jolts when he said, "Perform, my ass."

-OOOOOOO-

Iason Mink did have only a few close friends, if a few of the Blondies were unfamiliar to him. The large group of similar-looking android beings inside such an enclosed space was a nightmare for Riki, the stuff from the worst of his dreams. If they were all to go crazy, or get some psychotic order from Jupiter to rip him to shreds, there would be no problem to it.

But the ones he worried the most about were the five Non-smell Blondies who mingled significantly with Iason's friends, but, Riki saw, gathered periodically to talk together, faces serious. They all wore gloves even though it was eighty degrees outside. It was said that Blondies can control their own temperature, but still, excessive regulation was bothersome. It was easier to dress for the weather.

These weird Blondies stared at him.

And whenever he looked at them, Iason caught it, disliking the way Riki's tail stopped wagging and his ears going still. He also distrusted the five Blondies who were out of his circle. Not only did they act strange, overly Blondie-like, they didn't seem to like Nico Tathens or Yutaku Iman, the first two Blondies to whom he introduced Riki.

"Wolfie! Jupiter's sake, you look awful in those Pet clothes. For a guy like you, we have to leave something to the imagination!" Nico winked, his pretty golden curls were let loose this time around, rustling around his face, bringing out the small amount of make-up he wore. He cocked his head to the side, thinking, while Yutaku introduced himself.

He held out his hand. "My name is Yutaku Iman. A pleasure to finally meet you, Riki."

Riki looked bewilderedly at the smooth hand before taking it in his own. This Blondie wore glasses, a small pince-nez attached to a chain around his neck. Under his arm he had the book The Moons According to Sousiphoid, a popular collection of folktales. Cousin had a copy, and he used to make up stories to go with the pictures.

These were the weirdest Blondies he has ever met.

Non-smell One probably thought so, too, momentarily twitching a frown when he explained to them all about the book and weirdness, his voice nostalgic. He was really only voicing his thoughts aloud, and a bit later he felt a bit embarrassed by sharing this information to complete strangers. He brooded a little.

"Ah," was all the soft-spoken reader had to say.

Iason whispered into Riki's ear, "Remember your ring, Pet."

At first, Riki was at a lost to what he was talking about, still deep in remembering thoughts, and then he snarled. "Whatever," he said, anticipating some pain. But it seemed the Blondie was going to go soft on him in public, perhaps to worm his way into his heart by not humiliating him.

In reality, having to punish a Pet in public was humiliating for Elites. If a Pet misbehaved so easily in front of complete strangers, what does the Pet get away with in the home of his Master? Riki got away with little, really, but Elites not in the same predicament are not so understanding.

Other than robo-Blondie Heiku and the other very close friends to Iason, there were Vaessi Mils and Megala Chi, who arrived a bit after the Richard, the last of the five Non-smells.

The most distinguishable aspect of a Blondie had to be his hair. Even if they all possessed varying shades of whitish, beige, yellow, or blonde, most wore his strands in such a distinctive way that one could recognize a man just by his hairdo. It wasn't so much like that in any other caste where greens, blues and purples had much more variety.

These two Riki could spot a mile away. Vaessi spoke with a slow drawl, as if he wasn't used to using his mouth for words, and had his hair in stylish disarray, split ends everywhere yet organized. Meg had long bangs covering his face, hair flat and perfectly even as were his perfectly plain clothes; it was the first time Riki had seen such messy hair or bangs on Blondies.

"H-Hello, little Pet," they both said nearly simultaneously, one whose voice was unused, but Megala seemed a bit shy.

The last close friend came in with Eadni, a tall Blondie in uniform named Aether Illini. Nico immediately flocked to the two, but grabbed the hand of Aether, whose eyes were the color of a clear brilliant sky. His clean smile elicited one from Nico, but as soon as he caught sight of Richard and the others, he acted as if he couldn't see nor hear Nico. Nico abruptly let go of Aether's hand, giving Richard a sour look.

Amongst all the Blondies, Vaessi, Yutaku, Raoul, and Xian were the only ones who didn't have Pets, who all crowded in the middle on a Pet platform, talking amongst one another. It was different than in clubs where there were lights flickering and music playing. There was only the sound of small talk, and the platform held several chairs and tables, where they sat.

On the platform was a curvy woman, an absolute babe. Her purple hair reached down to the back of her knees. Though regularly she would be one of the lower-class Pets, she had emerald rings in her ears and her bare nipples. She wore a matching emerald-studded belt with her short-shorts. Two more jewels rested on her high-heels' straps.

"Ima."

"Did you say something, Pet?" Iason leaned over to hear better.

"N-Nothing. Just. That Pet is a girl. Don't see many of those around unless you go to Midas."

"That is Heiku's Pet, Ima. Why don't you go introduce yourself to the other Pets," Iason suggested.

Other Pets. As in he belonged with them. Those skimpily-clad slutbuckets, as Cousin would say.

It was obvious that Iason was showing Riki off. It was also obvious that he avoided a certain five. When Riki made it onto the scaffold without any problems, Iason did go over to the five, with a few others.

"Oh, your Pets," said Richard, albeit more pleasantly than was warranted.

Iason turned around just in time to see a Pet- Nico's Nomu- trip Riki. An unfamiliar anger flared within him, and he passed Nico a cold look. He only winked, gesturing with his head for him to turn back to the incident at hand. Unfamiliar with this situation, Iason simply decided, with albeit a sour face, to just look, not just a little curious to see how his Pet would react.

Nomu then had the gall to make a shooing sound like one would do to a mutt on the street. His friends laughed, Kyle and Enil's Pets. They abruptly stopped laughing when Riki punched Nomu's ass off the platform, and they backed away frightfully when the mongrel stepped towards them.

Ima's arm stopped Riki, and they shared a look. Riki's face went from angry to very much pissed upon seeing Ima.

"That's not a look two strangers give one another," Nico observed aloud, confusing Heiku, but didn't explain, as was his habit in conversation. His Pet ran to him, but Nico quickly turned his back to him. The act was so conspicuous the Pet only stared, shocked, before going up the stairs again onto the large stage.

Richard said, in that totally nice voice, "I really cannot understand why anyone would take in such a peculiar Pet. Your tastes run wilder than the reputation that precedes you."

"It was nothing but a sudden inclination of mine, Lord Richard," Iason answered, only half-lying, and he shook hands with Richard, Ben, Tom, Danny, and Louis. Such rare, odd names for Blondies.

Ben hmphed- they all had smiles, except for Ben, who seemed to sulk in the back. Only Louis' smile came across clean, not forced. He was the youngest Elite in the room, as he was in his apprenticeship for some such thing. He seemed a bit put off from the rest of the Non-smells. Unseasoned for the act.

"Everyone please settle in your marked seats. Your assignments will arrive shortly," Konami Sun announced over the intercom. "Everyone must do their very best. Several places of unrest have erupted on the continent, and this could mean danger to Amoi itself."

And that was it.

"No good luck?" Xian complained, yawning. In his position, he sat between Heiku and Meg in the circle of chairs facing the wall of the circular room. Everything was organized and even to the platform. The Blondies received the schedules at promptly ten and their assignments exactly five minutes after. They had Dimensions GAK63 to FZR55. The hoverboards arranged themselves in front of the Elites as was normal. No one noticed the Pet friends for another three hours, breaktime. However, twelve felt that something was not quite right.


	6. Surprises?

**AN**: I like this chapter. I like the relationship between Ima and Riki, lol.

**Summary: **Riki has two surprising meetings.

**REVIEWS!: **

**MikkiSenpai**: Uhhh, Riki hit Nico's Pet Nomu. But yes, that was enjoyable. I actually like a bit a violence and I absolutely love martial arts! Love, love, love. Later on, you'll see how much. And the typical Iason/Riki drama doesn't start until the next half-chapter, three years later! Sorry! This is a transit chapter for that part of the story, where things will be going by very quickly, so that these half-chapters will have more meat, you know? Thank you so much for reviewing again!

**Kit572**: Wow, thanks, really, haha. I truly appreciate it. I update once a week with a half chapter. But I could try out for twice a week...hmm... Thank you for reviewing!

Chapter 5 of... Surprises?

"I can't believe you, Ima. You really gone and done it," Riki spoke in a harsh whisper, not just a little aggravated, as usual. "We all thought you were fucking skinned until we got a look at some Pet magazines. 'New Young Pet from Aristia'? You're like a million years old, damn slutbucket."

Ima tapped her primly shaped fingernails on the platform table. "You done?" she asked wryly.

"I don't wanna talk to you."

"You've been doing all the talking, Riki." Riki kicked her chair. "How did you _igeti_ here, Riki? It couldn't have been on purpose."

"Some skinners were on my tail before Blondie... rescued me. I said I owed him, and he made me his fucking Pet." Making the long story short had Riki realizing that his current lifestyle could have been easily avoided. That only angered him, though.

Ima added, "Yea, you shouldn't of gotten a big ol' head and said you owed him."

"Yea," Riki agreed, the anger building. His ill-humored eyes glued themselves to the monitor touchscreens floating around the Blondies' heads with seemingly endless lists of functions and equations they put in for the invisible Grid. "So how you get away with not being able to speak Aristian?"

"Lost it while learning Amoian. You know that Aristia has this Spartan way of learning a new language. Plus, I was bred and raised for Amoian consumption."

"Nasty," he said at the easy way she relayed her lie.

"Whatever."

"How?"

Not needing for her old friend to elaborate, she answered, "Got a friend, a real Aristian Fox, who managed to get me a hoverboard so I can hack the system, transfigure it just like they're doing." She pointed to the Blondies.

"Always had a knack for that. Instead of joining Bison, you should have joined the Phoenixes."

"So they can pull me into their imaginary war with the Elites? No, thank you."

"How can you like-"

"-Don't you start lecturing me, Riki. Save it for afterward. I've been doing this for twenty years and I only got seven before I'm garbage, okay?"

Riki snickered, "Too late."

"Aren't you funny? I have you know I'm not just for show, so I can still kick your ass," she threatened. "My Master got this gym and loves to watch me working out. I've been doing it for awhile, though I almost got caught when a Bar fell out my back head."

"Nasty," said Riki once more. Then his ears twitched as he heard footsteps. Familiar ones that he couldn't see. He followed the sound to where Eadni was sitting, where he sat erasing and inserting formulas he had learned over the years. His assignment was catered to his lower skill and intellectual level. The energies he displaced would be fixed by someone else in the circle of Blondies.

Behind him, an invisible Cousin watched the Blondies work before he caught a glimpse of his supposedly dead Ima and Riki, live as a Pet. He had been stalking Eadni for a while. He knew about his kid Suuki and how most people absolutely adored the Elite- not a Blondie. He knew Eadni loved fruits, especially blueberries, and that he visited Ceres orphanages often.

He also knew that quite a few, odd-smelling Blondies would follow him. Not one had ever approached him, not even at the orphanages. They, quote, 'wanted for him to attract any of the mongrels'. Not 'any mongrels', i_the_/i mongrels. And they were upset that they didn't 'catch Riki and Eadni together, if they were ever together'. They 'could have got them both, two birds with one stone'.

Amon decided then that it would be better for Riki to stay with Iason Mink, the strongest Blondie in Amoi, and the Blondie who seemed to be in love with Riki, which Eadni had no trouble confiding to his ward Suuki.

Now, there were five of the no-smells in the same room.

"It has to be Cousin," Ima said, grabbing Riki's arm, where she was shaken off. The other Pets stared at their apparently chummy togetherness in awe. It took a long time for a person to become Ima's friend; she had high standards and refined tastes, but, from what it seems, she wasn't perfect.

"Hey, bitch," Cousin greeted, speaking in a Spiritually masked tone so that only could hear though he talked in regular volume. "Hey, Riki."

Vaessi Mils could hear everything clearly, but said nothing. Xian Sami could also see Amon, but believed it only a hallucination from his lack of sleep.

"Cousin," they said.

"I ain't gonna lecture ya', bitch. You been doin' this long time. I know ya' know I'mma bit angry."

"Yea," Ima murmured. "Sorry to worry ya', still."

Cousin didn't answer and for a while none of them said anything before he said, "So what the fuck is up with the Blondies with no scent? There's five of them here, too."

"You noticed?" Ima and Riki both said, giving each other identical looks to match their words and thoughts.

Ima told them, eyes wide, "They are always, and I mean always following me and Master Heiku- Aaaaaalways. And not them five, either. There's a bunch of those no smell, tattoo hand, too perfect Blondies."

"Too perfect?" Cousin asked.

"Like, never getting major happy or mad, always, always nice and pleasant and stuff. But they be watching and would write up a bitch in a minute. I got a look at Ben's profile with that hack and, mind ya' this be twenty years ago, he had already filed forty people, starting from school, and twelve of them had to be executed."

_File?_ Riki thought, something in the pit of his stomach dropping.

"They really don't like me. Like, they were prepared to get me out of those public places."

"Yea! Those anti-humanoid rules didn't crop up until you showed up. I went to Kyle's restaurant last week and saw a bunch of Tigers and Dragons everywhere."

"No, I'm saying that all happened i_within the hour_/i and the no-smells were all over that shit, even giving that Nico Blondie the evil eye to make sure I don't get in his mall."

"Maybe," Cousin said, thinking rationally, though he knew it was only his worst fears coming true. "They both know ya'll mongrels and don't like ya'll here."

"How come they ain't filed me, yet?" Ima protested, her accent back full-swing. "Compared to some Elites Ben filed, I'mma bump on a log. Plus, they was here when Xian had Juthian. Now that Ju aged out, they don't follow Xian no more. And you know what's funny? Without Ju, Xian's a complete mess. Look at him."

They did, catching Xian in the act of wiping his extraordinarily tired face for the umpteenth time; Meg and Heiku gave him worried glances.

"I saw them," Cousin started, then turned his attention back to the two mongrels. "I saw them following Suuki and Aki. And I followed them. They don't like it when Aki and Suuki are alone at all."

"They seem to be waiting for something for all the people they follow," Ima surmised. "Maybe they don't want people to get like Riki and Iason."

"Who else is fucking their Pets?"

Ima and Cousin whipped their heads at Riki, Ima's mouth completely dropping. "He's... He's pairing with you? Really?"

Riki just realized the full repercussions of him telling Ima, a complete gossip, the information after Iason's warning that their lives were on the line if he should ever tell. He had told him then that he wouldn't do anything that 'fucking stupid.' Apparently, he was fucking stupid.

But then Ima said, "So Sammy is telling the truth!"

"Who's Sammy?"

"Megala's Pet. Just bought him, but he's a nice source of information already."

"How would he know?"

"He lives right under you guys, and you guys ain't exactly quiet in the bed."

"That's because he's fucking rough. Big-ass fucker."

"Spare us the details," Cousin muttered. "Anyway, they were after Riki day one." He relayed to them his other stalking observations, noting the conversations amongst the Non-Smells.

"What the hell is going on?" Riki was actually starting to get worried, now. What were these robots planning?

"I'mma talk to Eadni about all this. They follow Eadni regardless if he alone or not."

"What the fuck? You can't just approach him out of nowhere," Ima laughed. "He'll freak out."

"Already did. I Sprung to him that day you," he gestured at Riki, "got here, looking for you. After he almost fainted, he seemed pretty calm, and I think he knows I follow him. Sometime he be looking over his shoulder and smiling, when he alone and everything. And he leaves me food, and he sings. You know, I'm surprised I'm just figuring all this out."

"How he know you there?"

"I don't know. Maybe he hears me?"

"No way."

"Way. I think he went into the bathroom on purpose that first time, too."

"You like him."

"It's kinda hard not to like a fine-ass who sneaks out to cuddle mongrel babies. And he became the lowest class of Elite, from being a Blondie, just so he can be a Watcher."

"No fucking way."

"I can hardly believe it either." Cousin had been leaning on the table and now stood up straight. "And Elites are allowed to have lovers and kids, though he can't have no babies, but, whatever."

"I think it would be different if it was you," warned Ima.

"I'mma go. You kids stay quiet." Though they have been passed the age where they needed Cousin to look out for them, he still held the signature saying, a warning of his own to watch out for skinners and police or rival gangs. They didn't mind it, though. Ima and Riki sort of missed those times, now that things have changed so dramatically.

Vaessi looked at Ben sitting next to him. He began thinking that a little Blondie council needed to be set up.

But that wouldn't be for another three years.

-OOOOOOO-

Iason was agitated. Part of it was work. Three years ago, for the first time in years, someone had made a huge mistake on the Grid, twice, someone working on the ground borders. Granted, the ground borders were the most difficult parts of the Grid; however, the Grid left little for error. With one day left, everyone had had to start over, another two weeks added. Another week added to be sure, then they were done.

However, over the next year and a half, the Elites were given a five-hundred problem test each week. Every single week. The incident happened again three years later, this year, but they found the men responsible, a couple of orange-headed Elites, next to last in the social ladder of elitism. This started another revised schedule that had just ended today.

"Finally, they believe we are not all idiots. If I ever find those men, I will wring their necks," Raoul promised over a mirror-phone to Iason. The Sovereign himself was helping himself to his second glass of wine, subconsciously intending to take out his frustrations on Riki. The mirror floated in front of them both, reflecting the other participant comfortable in his own home. Iason could hear Yui cooking in the background. Raoul saw bits and pieces of Tai through the half-open kitchen door.

Iason only had half his attention to the conversation at hand. Most of the time it went back to Riki's horrible behavior, and then to how well he interacts with Heiku's Pet Ima, but no other Pets.

That was another part of his agitation. Jealousy. Deep burning jealousy.

For some reason outside his own reasoning, Ima and Riki clicked together like- what had Riki said that one time as a threat… Like white on rice, despite the fact that rice could be brown and black. Anyway, they stuck together every time they were in the same room. Though Riki didn't seem at all interested in most of the Pet shows- Nomu and Enif he always booed and earned himself a few quiet shocks- he didn't stem his interest in any of Ima's performances.

It wasn't as if he openly masturbated, not with all those 'robots' in there watching, but his arousal was apparent. Very much so. Iason had several electrical 'accidents' with his ring during many a Pet Show.

Yui came up behind Raoul. "Master, dinner is ready."

Raoul waved him off. "I'll see you tomorrow, Iason." As an afterthought, he added, "Where is that abhorrent Pet of yours? You've haven't shown him for months."

"Good night, Raoul." Iason said. He turned off the mirror by touching the glowing gold button on the bottom. It fell into his palm, but Daryl quickly appeared to put it up. Iason asked him, "Where is Riki?"

The eunuch answered immediately, "He is taking a swim in the pool. Shall I call him?"

"Please do so."

On cue, Tai rung the dinner bell, attracting Riki, as the guards have already eaten. Daryl did a little deferential bow, as he was no longer needed.

"Give me a kiss, Riki." Iason leaned over the still-wet mongrel sitting at the table.

Riki, impatient for food, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, as was the ritual whenever they didn't meet for a few hours. At first, Riki thought it was stupid and demeaning, then he started losing meals for every kiss he refused. Every little misdemeanor meant no food or pain. It turned out he had a high tolerance for pain, and that a full stomach was more addicting to a starving mongrel than any drug.

Dinner tonight was a deliciously moist foreign bird with gravy, biscuits and a variety of steamed vegetables, except for Brussels sprouts, which nobody in the entire household liked in the least. Riki enjoyed the food, thanking Tai and refilling his own glass whenever Daryl tried to pour for him.

Soon they finished dinner, and Riki watched his toes for awhile. Around this time, Iason would ask for-

"Come to the parlor, Riki."

And here they go.

"My lap, Riki," Iason ordered.

This was new. Daryl and Tai moved to make their leave.

"No, stay, both of you. I want you to see this." And then he began kissing Riki, as if it was perfectly normal. It was at this time that Odi walked from the hall after checking the perimeters. He nearly dropped his clipboard. Never in his life would he imagine it, even if they were having sex next door nearly every day.

Riki's face began to heat. He was, by no means, a shy person, but he had expectations. Some of those covered that Iason wouldn't make their relationship too public. Of course, he also expected Iason to let him go by now, but, oh well.

The mongrel shoved Iason away, biting air when Iason tried to kiss him again.

"Stop this at once, Riki. Or I'll make your bed into a T-Stand again."

Riki's body screamed 'NO! Don't do it!', yet Riki ostentatiously spat in Iason's face, bull's eye. It took a second for him to start to sweat in nervousness.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…_

Iason yanked his hand, pulling him off his lap and struggling over to Riki's room, so furious that he saw red, his eyebrows furrowed in such a rare look of utter rage that Daryl even paused in helping his Master when he asked for chains.

"Pay attention, Daryl," commanded Iason. Riki was putting a hard, though futile fight against them, all three tails whipping this way and that. They still managed to get him into the T-stand, and Iason pulled the restraints impossibly tight.

_Shit, shit, shit, shit…_

It hurt. It hurt a lot more than the last time, and a lot more than anything else. What else Iason wanted to do in front of them, Riki didn't know; still, probably would have been better than the T-Stand.

It spread his arms straight out across from each other and strained his legs apart like wrung laundry. In no time, he was as stiff as a stiff, aching terribly in all the wrong places.

And Iason sat in his room on a chair, legs comfortably folded and elbows gently digging into the armrests.

Four hours later, Iason, after taking a short break for a shower, came back and waited with him deep into the night, holding him when he needed to take a piss; that was especially humiliating. For the most part, Iason seemed deep in thought.

Riki now felt so beyond regret, he had half a mind to sell his soul to Jupiter if it meant getting out the damn stand. Malachi would forgive him eventually.

"How do you know Ima, Riki?" Iason asked out of the blue.

"What?" Riki bit his lip, almost more uncomfortable on where the conversation was going than being in the T-Stand.

Iason took this as a sign. Even though his jealously flared, he continued, "I do not believe you had just met those three years ago. And I'm curious, at first you were upset with her, and now you two sing songs and are the chattiest duo."

"It's just that she's a girl," Riki tried, sweating not entirely from pain.

"You've seen many girls since then and have not had even a shred of intimacy with any of them, except that Mimea Fox girl who you've added to your clique. But you apparently only wanted her for one reason."

If pleasure was pain, the aphrodisiac-induced stupor Iason put him under when he fucked the virgin Mimea was painful enough to really kill a person. Fucking Malachi, he passed out so many times, Iason had a medic team set up IV just so he could get enough liquids.

Still, there were plenty of secrets between him and Ima- But it has been three years- But Iason hasn't let him out in months, thinking he was a flight risk- But if Riki told him the whole story, he'll be convinced he wouldn't run straight back to Ceres- Hell, he won't let him run anywhere.

"Did you hear me, Pet?"

"Huh?"

"Tell me the truth: How do you know Ima?"

"I just met her-"

Iason shot up. "Don't lie to me!"

"I'm… I'm telling you the truth!"

"You're lying! It's evident on your honest face, Riki," Iason hissed. "Unfortunately, you wear your heart on your sleeve. Do you think that after all these years of so honestly misbehaving you can lie to my face like this? And get away with it?"

Riki mumbled something.

"What?"

"There's a lot to it. Because, then I gotta tell you about what we been talking about, and how we got the info, and then we gonna have to think of something to do about all the stuff we talk about and how we got the information because you wouldn't want to leave it alone because you're the Sovereign and you're in love with me."

Iason just said, "What?" again. "Is the truth really that important?" He loved him; Riki knew that?

"Totally. But we gotta make a deal. Get me out of this fucker if you want me to say anything."

"You're going to tell me regardless. Right now, you would do anything to rid yourself of the stand."

"I will _do _anything. Even tell you the secrets to this shoddy place."

Intrigued by the secrets Riki claimed to know, Iason untied him, letting him fall to the floor in a disheveled heap. While letting him get used to his freed self, Iason sat back down, a wee bit impatient.

Watching Riki breathe heavily, panting with his fangs hanging around his tongue, hair frizzing from stress and sweat, had a strange effect on the Blondie. A common effect, really. Merely watching the mongrel oftentimes aroused Iason to the point that he asked for oral favors. Like now.

"Riki. Service me."

"Always quick to the point, ain't ya'?" Riki murmured. Sore and tired, he didn't really want to give his Master the head that will make his world spin, but, fucking hell, he didn't want to go back in the T-stand.

So he crawled over, every muscle creaking in protest, and took the already liberated cock into his mouth, swirling his tongue harshly around the tip.

"Oh, Riki," Iason sighed brokenly. The first time at oral sex might have ended in disaster if Iason hadn't worn Riki out to the brink of exhaustion with sex, then, in his excitement, beat his bottom with his bare hands. Probably then, Riki was too tired and too smart to try anything stupid.

If Iason did all that when he was in a good mood, what could he accomplish with his dick bitten off?

Riki pulled at his own organ. He got a high off the healing of his bruised muscles. And something about making the Blondie moan seemed to have the effect of arousing the hell out of him. Excitedly, he started to deep-throat Iason, even with his size, Riki could open his mouth just wide enough to let him all the way inside. He moaned in appreciation, stroking himself heatedly.

Riki's mouth had to be the hottest place in the universe. Besides the way his tongue vibrated against Iason's cock or the twitching of his throat, his body heat fueled Iason's sexual ambitions like nothing else in the world. It was magnificent.

"Darling, you feel wonderful." Iason wasn't the type that moaned, but he wouldn't hesitate to praise Riki with words.

Riki growled hungrily, pulling and pushing around inside his mouth while pulling himself in a matching rhythm. Pulling back his head once, he breathed hotly, "You're lovin' this, ain't ya?" He went at it quickly, not quite giving Iason a chance to answer.

After a couple more exchanges of romantic, anti-romantic banter, Riki came, right in his hand. So skilled was he with his mouth that he got his jaw to clench, but not hard enough to harm Iason. He swallowed rapidly as he came another time just when Iason finally hit his orgasm. There was a little sound between the Blondie's clenched teeth, but that was all. Riki swallowed everything. With a lascivious look at his Master, the Pet brought his hand covered with the copious amount of his semen, and he licked it all away.

"Naughty Pet."

"Nah, you like it." Riki climbed onto Iason's lap after tucking both of them in, not intending to tell the whole story on the hard floor with an aching body.

"Now, could you not have done that in front of the others?"

"I panicked. You shoulda' said something. Why you done that anyway?"

"It's 'why did you do that', Riki," Iason corrected, as was his habit, though little good came from it. Just an eye roll and a half-assed attempt of Riki saying the right thing. "Anyway, I thought it would be appropriate to show our relationship to my closest friends. It would have only been a kiss."

"Why in the hell do you want to do that?"

"To keep them from gossiping. If I am bold about this whole affair, they wouldn't dare try to sneak rumors around my back."

"Ain't they ya' good friends?"

"Isn't Ima?" Iason knew she couldn't keep a secret to save her life.

"Oooo, ya' got ya' a point there." Riki laid his head down on Iason's shoulder. "Raoul won't like it. I've hardly been outta this dump and now you drop a bomb."

"I deem this the best way. Just quick, and get this over with. I'll deal with the repercussions later, but I surmise the worse that could happen would be a long lecture from Raoul." A looooong lecture.

"No one will file you, right?"

"Are you worried about me, Pet?"

Riki heard the smile in Iason's words. "I don't want you dead, that's all. You gonna be dead 'cuz of me. And Amoi needs you," he quickly explained.

"Hm. Well, unless my friends were two-faced for these many years, then no, I don't believe anyone will file me, not out of those I plan to share this with."

"Everyone from Grid work, except the weird Blondies, of course?"

"Yes. That's them. And what do you mean, weird Blondies?"

Riki turned over, getting more comfortable. "That's kinda what me and Ima talk about, those Blondies, the five or six that will be in ya'll Grid group that ya'll don't really like. And they don't really like some of ya'll, but mostly Nico and Yutaku."

"I had no idea that you were that perceptive. I had seen the exact same response. Please, tell me about Ima and what you have deduced from Ben and the other's activities."

And so Riki told him, three years worth of surveillance information.


	7. The Beginning of the End

AN: Where are you Mikki? And no one else is reviewing here on Fanfiction... I wonder why... I know people are reading... **sigh. **

**Warnings**: Sexual activity! Don't read if you're under 18, please. Full Chapter.

**Summary**: Nico and Aether meet...again, but are interrupted with interesting news.

Chapter 6 of.... The Beginning of the End

While Riki told some secrets of Amoi to his Master, with said Master's heartbeat thudding faster and faster as time wore on, Nico Tathens and Aether Illini were having the most romantic tryst of their lives.

It was the largest known secret- if one could call it that- that Nico and Aether had a thing for each other. They picked up on one another, though in different class sets all throughout the schools, joining the two unique circles of Iason's friends and Nico's friends. Together the group became the 'popular crowd'.

In the Upper Academy, the chemistry between Nico and Aether became all the rage. It died down after multiple public canings between the two for pranks they pulled together and other things, like holding hands, but as the canings continued, they became the tragic couple. When it was apparent Nico was interested in business and Aether into the military, all thought all was lost. Yet, the last year, Nico changed his apprenticeship to government, and eventually became Treasurer of Amoi. It helped that he had the most advanced math skills of any Blondie that has ever lived. His ability to apply solutions to the real world from math wasn't too bad either. Amoi has never had a deficit under him.

Aether became Sky Captain, in charge of the military skyships and shuttles and owned several cruise lines for tourists of the Continent. The charismatic Blondie even had a small hand in local traffic, able to pause all transportation if the need arose. His and Nico's private businesses often overlapped. With Amoi technically in peacetime and financially successful, the two had plenty of time for each other.

No one knew how much time they really spent with one another, not even the spying Non-smells. Aether had acquired a pair of high-level, highly illegal, warp mirrors the year before. Though they looked like regular mirrors, they had all the warping abilities of the mirrors of the Eos Tower. By using them, they realized that the harming effects of warp were just myths- who started the rumor, who knows.

Also by using them, they realized how much they wanted each other.

It wasn't that easy. Both were instilled from birth, supposedly, to reject strong feelings for anyone other than Jupiter. Society pressured them to behave normally. Most of all, they didn't want to be filed and have their brains rewired or worse, rewired and banished, or even worse, executed.

Yet, they loved each other. Like Heiku did Yousi, Nico and Aether loved each other so much they often planned their escape and how they would stay hidden. These were serious conversations that worried them but became a failsafe in the worst possible scenario.

Aether arrived through the mirror into Nico's house earlier that evening. He brought wine and fruits Nico liked; he abhorred sweets, even the sweeter fruits, but he loved green grapes and apples, and lemons and limes. Aether himself had a strong sweet tooth, brushed his teeth three times a day, and knew Nico would hold up his end of the night with a box of chocolates.

"Aether! We haven't done this in weeks!" Nico greeted, holding a box of nougat-filled white chocolates, Aether's favorites.

They set their gifts down and embraced each other, meeting together with a frantic kiss filled with longing and passion. Before, each was silently too afraid to go all the way. Aether readied himself that night. He's had sex, plenty on his cruise ships and foreign trips as Sky Captain, but Nico he felt had to be special. Also, he had to tell himself over and over that he was worth losing absolutely everything for.

The kiss became heavy making-out: Aether boldly caressed Nico's hot erection, cupping it entirely while firmly stroking. Nico pulled away the confines of Aether's trousers so that he could feel his length completely. Aether sucked in his tongue in a gasp of pleasure before doing the same act for Nico.

Little did Aether know that Nico had psyched himself up as well. Among his past one-night visitors, Omaki and a Dragon from Alpha Zen taught him quite a few tricks. One was whispering in the ear, breathing heavily.

"My room," he said. "Let's do it tonight."

Aether was only too happy to oblige. He walked and fell on his back on the extra, extra firm bed, bringing Nico atop him and his shirt over his head. They quickly rid themselves of the rest of their clothes between kisses and gropes.

_I can't believe this is finally happening!_ Both thought over and over. It was a thought bathed in fear and excitement.

"Which way, Nico?"

"Bottom. I like to be bottom."

Aether didn't care for this comment very much at all, but he couldn't be a hypocrite about it. Nico was his now. He slid down his beloved's torso, licking both his nipples alternatively, biting one roughly, making Nico squeal in pleasure. He sucked in the pierced navel when he got down to it, knowing the project was a drunken one.

Blondies were all well-endowed, and not even the rather effeminate Nico Tathens was an exception. Aether did the best he could, stroking the base deftly while taking in the glans before going further.

"Bring yourself around, Aether. I want to… I want to do it, too."

Again, Aether accommodated the request; he brought himself so that Nico's head was even with his swollen member. Almost immediately, Nico swallowed him.

"N-Nico! How can you do that?"

Nico pushed him away while pulling back. "Practice," he replied, and then pushed his head up, moving his throat quickly.

"W-with whoooom?" Aether asked jealously, moaning and hardly attending the thick cock in his hand. He could never do what Nico was doing.

Aether's new lover pressed his hand over his, showing him how he wanted the attention he deserved. Nico talked with his lips still against his weeping member, "Let's leave that behind Aether. We have each other, don't we?"

Aether had unknowingly screwed his eyebrows together and now they loosened. Instead he brought in his lover into his mouth again, and he reached one saliva-slicked finger down to the puckered prize below. He gave his balls a firm roll once, then pushed the finger inside. It turned out to be already wet.

"You really were ready, weren't you?" Aether whispered, Nico nodded around his member.

"Do it still."

And so Aether tested the muscle with two fingers, then three, feeling a bit of tension. He spread his fingers out, shuddering as Nico let loose a choked cry which settled down to groans and Aether continued to move inside him, firm and steady. He tried to pull out.

"No!" Nico commanded. "Another."

"You're going to-"

"Perhaps, but it's better than you tearing me up inside, and not in the good way. I'm not a girl, as much as people might think so."

"I don't think so," Aether said with a smile, yanking his member playfully. He added a fourth finger. As Nico had stopped servicing him for fear of biting, he turned his body upright between the Treasurer's twitching legs. The Captain sunk his fingers incredibly deep, making Nico scream over and over as he spread his fingers.

"Enough, Aether! I'm going to come!" Aether stopped, the sweat dripping off his face and onto Nico's. The pretty Blondie brought his hands up around Aether's neck, pulling him down, and he whispered in his ear, "Come on in, Aether, my beautiful Aether."

Aether did, falling in slowly. The whole while he stared into Nico's bright blue eyes, sparkling sapphires Nico called them. A coil of love tightened in his heart, his blood boiled, and nothing in the world could be better than this moment.

Nico began to cry. Biologically impossible it should be, as Blondies shouldn't have tear ducts, but so should their love have been impossible, but it all was there. The tears came harder and harder with each thrust.

"Aether!"

"I love you, Nico," he answered.

"I'm a mess… C-c-crying like this. It feels so good, Aether."

"Me too." He whipped his hips, moaning, and slipped into his orgasm so easily it surprised him. He froze, unable to handle both the sensations and trying to move. But Nico moved himself, squeezing his insides, and came quickly.

They rested together in Nico's hard bed, panting. Aether was still shaking.

Minutes later, his closed Dimension mirror began to buzz in his jacket. It was sort of a private frequency phone and only a few friends knew about it. Among them was Iason Mink.

And that's exactly who it was.

"Aether?" Iason greeted.

The hastily dressed Aether nodded in acknowledgment.

"You're in Nico's house." At Aether shocked look, Iason added, "The feline clock."

Aether turned around and saw the clock, an orange cat's green eyes ticked with the second hand, mouth the clock's face, and tail wrapped around and under. It laughed at him with its glowing mouth.

"Oh."

"You two had a… little get together, I gather."

"You've gathered correctly. We had sex," Aether spat. He wasn't very good at keeping secrets up front and center, and neither could Nico.

"It was just fantastic!" Nico appeared over Aether's shoulders, grinning. Then his face fell. "You're not going to tell Jupiter, are you? I mean, you don't seem the type."

"The type that files?"

"Yea…"

Riki jumped into view. "He ain't, or else he might as well turn himself in for fucking me."

"Pet!" Iason chided.

"You was gonna tell 'em anyway."

"Not in that fashion, Riki. Now apologize."

Riki glared petulantly before mumbling, "I'm sorry."

"No problem. But is that what you called me for?"

"No. Actually, I called to share some information with you about some Blondies and you and Nico's relationship."

"Ben?" Nico guessed. "That guy and his friends give me the creeps. I don't think they like me."

"Yes, them. Apparently, Riki has a friend who can go invisible and has been following them, who has been following you two, among others."

"Invisible friend?" Nico cried, excited.

Aether figured the 'following' part a tad bit more important. "Why are they following us?"

"They are onto your relationship, and they will file you once they have enough evidence. Do you remember Ace Vaughn?"

"He got filed earlier this year."

"Correct. They filed them. Mono Creises?"

"New Year's."

"Them. Porch, Larkinson, Neanos, and many others, they do it all. But for us, they think we are special."

"Who are they?" Nico asked.

"And who counts as us?" Aether added.

"Riki, Ima, and their friend, 'Cousin' all refer to them as the no-smell Blondies, because they do not have a scent."

"And a guy with no scent has a secret, as the saying goes," Riki explained. "They know about Cousin, but don't know he can go invisible."

"With no scent, you can't track them."

"Unless it's a trap," Riki muttered, remembering when he got caught by the skinners.

"Other than their smell, they have a tattoo on their right hands, an intricate incantation circle with a number in the middle. Cousin has surmised that the numbers determines rank."

"Lower tha' number, higher tha' rank."

Nico and Aether watched the couple: Riki leaned onto Iason's chair, chainless and wearing only a pair of stylish shorts that Nico had given to him for their Birthday, a Blondie holiday celebrating the birth of a specific generation of Blondies, since they were figured to be born on the same day. All Blondies gave gifts to one another, but it wasn't uncommon to reward Pets and Furniture, or spoil them.

Iason, in his expensive silk nightclothes, and Riki made a very interesting pair. Looking at them like this, it didn't seem like it mattered who was the Master and who was the Pet, they both looked intimidating, which really brought home their words.

"So far," Iason went on, "we have concluded that 'us' is the four of us, Heiku and Ima, Daryl and Katze- Furniture, Aki and Suuki- wards of Omaki and Eadni, respectively, Raoul and Yui, Vaessi with Kyle and Enil, Headmaster Konami and Aertis Jin, and Eadni."

"Why did you say all the names in pairs?" Aether asked.

"Konami! With Aertis Jin!" Nico exclaimed. He already understood. "I bet this Cousin is really with Eadni! Wait, is he a mongrel?"

"Yea."

"How many tails does he have?"

"Five."

"Five! Five? Are you playing around with me?"

Riki's face was dead serious.

"So all the people they are following are lovers? How do you figure that?" Aether couldn't believe this; this was much bigger than he thought it was going to be.

Iason rearranged his legs, crossing them as he usually did when preparing to talk at length with someone. "Not exactly. According to Ima, who happens to truly be a mongrel from Ceres, they were following Xian and Juthian before the Pet aged out, and we all know how they were… close." Both Aether and Nico nodded. "And I spoke with Xian to confirm that he was in fact deeply in love with him."

"Oh, how romantic!"

"But Xian also noticed some Blondies following Heiku and Yousi, when he was alive, even before they became a couple. Xian has noticed them all, but failed to realize the extremity of the matter, partly because we have all believed we were safe from temptation."

"But it doesn't make sense, then. Do they follow anyone else?"

"Not that we know of, and Cousin has been doing this surveillance for over three years. I think that is the extent so far."

"Why are they following people before they hook up? I've spoken to Katze just last month." Nico pushed out his upper lip. "He didn't seem to be in love."

"I sent Daryl to look for new Furniture two weeks ago. He was distracted by Katze, and they have been following them only since then."

Aether told them, "But plenty of Furniture get together. Some Blondies even cover the costs of weddings! Why are they special?"

"And Konami wouldn't ever go for a student. He's too uptight," Nico agreed.

Riki said, "Well, from what Cousin says, Jin is Konami's favorite, at least."

"They must have a list. This isn't just random." Nico nodded with Aether's statement. "It's just too exact. And what about the hundreds of other Blondie and illegal couples? Travok Haynes and Meiru Siles? None of them? Why all of us friends?"

"Maybe because you guys are all friends?" Riki offered.

"But Aki and Suuki, Daryl and that Katze, Konami and Aertis? When it comes right down to it, we hardly know them!"

"Perhaps it's because Iason is Sovereign," Nico said.

Iason answered this time, "That doesn't cover the fact that there are some of us who aren't followed. Why not Omaki, or Xian anymore? Why Aki or Aertis? And why Eadni by himself?"

They all pondered this. There was something shaky going on and and no one quite knew what to do about it, for they didn't know where to start.

"Let's have a meeting with all those involved, except Konami," Aether nodded to himself, a habit. "I don't think he will care much, and his appearance may do more harm than good." 

"Headmaster Konami-" Iason sounded condemning. "-will care. Blondies are acting like a secret service."

"Did it cross your mind that Jupiter may be commanding these services?"

The surprise on Iason's face said it all. It hadn't even entered his mind. Yes, Jupiter has reprimanded him several times, angrily, about his Pet and the three years he has kept him, told him that his friends are less than worthy of his presence, and said she disliked his relationship with Eadni, but Iason was used to being her Golden Boy. He just might have been spoiled by the title, blinded by it.

"Why? And why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Because, you are in the middle of it. Who knows, you may even be the biggest part?"

"Nah, I think that role goes to Eadni." He grimaced at Aether's face, which was scrunched up at being corrected by a mongrel. "They don't need another person to spy on 'im. He's all good by himself."

"Riki has a point, Aether," came Nico's voice in his ear. It had the expected effect of making him slightly uncomfortable.

"I do believe that your route of thinking is the way Konami will go," Iason murmured. "I think the meeting will be a good idea. However, there is the fact that, by following us most of the day, the Non-Smells will make it difficult for everyone to meet in one place at any given time, not without arousing suspicion."

"We can have it over closed mirrors. A mirror meeting!" Nico clapped his hands, for himself. "I know Eadni gave Aertis and Suuki ones, Heiku has one, Omaki has one for Aki to use, I can call Kyle or Enil to give Vaessi one, and you can cover the Furniture and Raoul."

Plannning meetings were like planning parties for Nico, both of which he was a professional. It came as no surprise to Aether or Iason that he figured out a mirror meeting.

"We should give this about a month to all plan out so that everyone will be ready. I mean, like, it will be equally suspicious if we all stayed home- oh, wait! Eadni's birthday is in four weeks. We'll all plan a big bash and get totally trashed and all the spies will know why we stayed in for the next day."

"The next day would be a work day, Nico," Aether remarked.

"It would be a weekend, then, so let's have his party the night before, so it seems we are going to rest the night before workday. Yes?"

"We did that before, didn't we?"

"Oh, yes. We did." Nico puckered his lips in his usual way.

"I agree with the plan."

"I as well," Iason smiled in agreement, pleased with the way things turned out, "I'm planning a trip tomorrow and will be able to tell Heiku and Raoul this information."

"Where are you going?" Nico asked nosily.

"Evidently, Monik of the mines also has an underground fight club," Iason explained. "Katze thinks that perhaps Juthian is one of the fighters, under the name Julian, or Ju."

"He isn't sure?"

"It seems he would have to have had a drastic makeover."

"He cut his hair?!"

"As in, he has plastic surgery all over his body."

"But," Aether interrupted, "What do expect to do with him once you affirm that he is in fact Juthian? Is Xian trying to make him his Pet?"

Iason answered, smiling a bit more broadly, "No, he will be my Furniture."


	8. A Dream?

**AN: **An old prologue

Chapter of…A Dream?

Iason coughed up blood.

They shot Iason five more times as he ran, relishing the idea that it was the Sovereign of Amoi they were wounding, finally. But the Blondie continued on through the dark, heavily wooded rainforest. Who knows what sort of creatures he would eventually run into while escaping through this dangerous uncharted land.

Whatever they shot him with went right through his body, and he was losing the ability to move. Tiny sticks in the mud became enormous obstacles. Once, he slammed headfirst into a tree, scratching up his face and busting his lip. He felt nothing.

The only thing that ran through his head was his need to see his Riki one more time. If he was going to die, which will undoubtedly be the outcome of this incident, he wanted to die with Riki in his arms and only if his beloved wanted it in return. At this end, he would see whether or not all his efforts over the past three years were worth it, whether his friends' pains were worth it, the death of all those young Blondies were worth it. It was no question Riki was worth it. Riki was everything.

A mile or so ahead of him a slain tiger had his claws dug into the dirt. Behind him was a voluptuously dark cave where Riki and several others hid. Though the Grid border kept many people and other things out of Tanagura, anyone could come out. Riki had ran through the Grid believing that he will be obliterated into tiny pieces, but he only felt a harsh buzz. If he tried to run back through the other way, the buzz would be enough to make his brain start hemorrhaging. A small bit of that sort of death would be owed to him, since he had helped make the Grid work.

That was years ago. When Jupiter sent the police, she seemed to also have had set the time to go by impossibly fast, though it has only been hours. When she sent the Sentinels, the whole thing blew to shit; and Riki, along with Juthian, Ayuda, Odi and the twin bodyguards, had to catch up with Katze and Daryl in Midas to avoid escape for as long possible. They found reprieve in Dana Bahn's forest. Dana Bahn was actually the name of an old revolutionary hideout deep in the Great Forest, an unexplored area full of all sorts of godforsaken creatures.

The runaways, fugitives more like, with their new powers of course, were in remarkably good shape and made the usual seven hour drive into a seven hour run to keep distance between their pursuers. An hour beyond that Juthian managed to kill himself a tiger, and they made a temporary home out of her den.

They worried about the Blondies, who were all called to the Chambers.

The Chambers were a trap by the Sentinels, and probably also Jupiter, but neither group really figured out if the Sentinels and Jupiter really saw everything eye-to-eye or even who was really in charge between the two. It was known that Jupiter loved Iason, and the Sentinels found him a hindrance to the Amoian population.

Neither Riki nor Iason would have imagined in a thousand years that they would be in the Dana Burn Rainforest- or forest, woods, no one really knew. The place was inhabitable and terrifying, both of which were unverifiable since anyone who has gone into the forest never came back to tell about their adventures.

Whether the events that got them there was fate or coincidental, they were nonetheless extraordinary. However, what really got them together was some forgotten day, a story of a later time. For now, the events that happened just recently for 200-year-old Riki the Dark started when he still thought he was only ninety-three, on a day when he was supposed to be caught by a Blondie to be killed, but instead was caught by Iason, for what reason he was still figuring out.


	9. Reuniting?

**AN**: This is a super long chapter. I realized that making my chapters shorter only helped fuel some impatience, especially since I only release once a week, lol. So long chapters, still once a week, though.

**Warnings**: Fluff, Super long chapter, but it's mostly dialogue.

**MikkiSenpai:** Haha, I never really thought twice about Iason listening to Riki, about the no-Smell Blondies anyway, and he can't do anything rash, at least I don't think so. Now, you have me thinking really hard about it, haha.

And it is dangerous if he doesn't tell others. Well, that's what he thinks (it's true). And I can't wait for you to know about the Forgotten as well, and any other readers out there (I know you're there~). And, oh, so sorry about not letting you know sooner that Nico and Aether are my own OCs. Why make more when there were just plenty? Well, I figured that since I have Iason and his friends hanging out early, and Yutaku Iman I felt would have a bigger role here, I decided to make a whole new group of friends.

Chapter 7 of... Reuniting?

Raoul took a lot of convincing in order for him to want to go with the rest to the caves. After being told about the 'mirror meeting' and the spying Blondies, he didn't want to leave the house anymore than he needed to. Plus, the night they wanted to go out was three days from a new moon.

Monik's Fight Cave was located somewhere in Midas, secret passageways and dozens of passwords underground. The ones in charge let anyone with money and a lot to lose watch the fights, enter fights, or just place bets. New moons were good nights to have the fights. Audiences had the protective cover of semi-darkness, riding and walking quickly between the lights of the streetlamps.

But it wasn't getting caught that worried Raoul; Iason had said many Elites went to the fights, including Blondies, and Raoul believed him. But Yui would be left alone; over and over Iason told him that Cousin the Confidant said the spies wold hardly enter buildings, rarely follow through warps or elevators and never into rooms. And, again and again, there was no reason why they would do anything violent, especially to Yui, right now. Riki maybe, and that's why he was going.

Raoul then thought maybe he should bring Yui along, but Iason reasoned, over and over, that, perhaps, the fighting environment will cause more danger for them and Yui, but Raoul's friends really needed his power. Finally, Raoul agreed to go, as an added man of defense in the case of any trouble at the fights. Heiku, with Ima, Xian, who at the moment had no idea why they were going to the fights (it was a surprise for the tired Blondie), and Omaki were going as well.

Roual nearly wimped out on them when a Bar fell out the day of the little trip. He could feel two ears straight atop his head. He hasn't done that, at least, with a Pet in a while. He had bought several since Riki had joined Iason, but every one not only felt unsatisfying but they annoyed him with the traits he knew Riki didn't possess. Those he truly despised knew their performances like a script, something which he knew Riki didn't do, something that he involuntarily admired in the Pet.

That's when he started to look at Yui as a romantic interest. Iason told him the few theories behind the 'mirror meeting': "Romantic interests between the pairs who they follow are presumed likely," Iason had said. Raoul had never before viewed Yui as anything more than a fabulous Furniture, a beautiful work of art as an attractive boy, so much so that he had painted him several times though he knew the work will never be licensed. Yui was learned, honest. Like Iason's Riki.

His Yui. Once thinking about a chance of love with the lower-class boy, he realized that he could understand a bit of Iason's reluctance to release Daryl, and maybe his obsession with Riki. No matter what he might attempt, a new Furniture would only be an attempt to replace the perfection that Yui was. He was so even when he was new, all frightened and nervous.

And then he received, right that afternoon, a summons from Jupiter. His Pet-exchanging activities were irregular, the disappearance of some alarming. He was required to purchase a Pet and house him for at least six months. It was co-sent to Xian Sami, but not Heiku or Iason, or Omaki, who didn't have to have a Pet because he had Aki.

The nervousness Raoul experienced had his ears leap form his blondish gray-striped head.

For a moment, he was simply astounded. Heiku sold Ima for half a year before buying her back and Iason did not look in the least bit ready to get rid of Riki, so why should he get a Pet? Why couldn't he go i_without/i _for six months?

The usual jealously sparked within him. How Jupiter favored Iason and not him, for no other reasons other than his charm and his perfect Blondie hair. Iason's hair was almost silver while Raoul's had an tiny orange _and_ gray tint. Sometimes he would be mistaken for an Elite, and sometimes he reacted a little badly. If he had Iason's body, could he react differently? Would Jupiter treat him like the real Iason?

"Master," Yui said, his head lowered. "Your ears are out." He stood around the corner from where the Central Light was embedded in the wall.

The gentle way he said it, as if it was no big deal, had Raoul calmly pressing the Bar absentmindedly in the right spot. Then he realized.

"How long have you known, Yui?" Raoul launched himself up, but he wasn't in the heightened state of frightened aggravation. His heart merely pounded a bit.

"For a while, sir. A long time. Since Mousa," Yui answered in an even lower voice, shielding part of his body behind the wall.

Raoul remembered him, that first boy. That was over thirteen years ago.

"Why haven't you said anything?"

"Excuse me... Master, but you... tend to get... a bit.. excited?"

With each phrase, Raoul got closer, until he towered over his small frame.

"Why are you saying this now?"

"You seem as if you have a large weight on your shoulders, since last night, and especially now. I wanted to relieve some by letting you know that... I'm here."

Raoul relaxed, his eyes filled with what some would call affection.

His dear Yui.

-OOOOOOO-

"Hell, naw! Don't just think that because you're cute you can do whatever you want with i_my/i _Nini, alright?" Amon Qentu yelled at this eight-year-old mongrel child. The boy was giving Eadni a kiss but jumped at Amon's voice.

This was a regular scene at Eadni Elusiax's house. The Elite chose not to go to the fights to find who may be Juthian, but hoped for them all the best. He loved spending time with the mongrel children Amon brought through their (stolen) warp mirrors. Amon couldn't Spring with them, but it was safer with mirrors, anyway.

Three years ago Amon came upon him:

"Yo," he said.

"Hello," Eadni said back, pulling a large chicken from his oven while Suuki stood in shock, a pot of beans poised over a plate.

Eadni introduced the two. "Suuki, this is Amon. Amon, Suuki, whom I am sure you know. Please sit down."

Amon sat down, smiling, amused at Suuki's look, his flaxen hair messed from the heat of the room. The dining area itself was furnished with all sorts of cuddly objects and toys on shelves, every inch of the wall covered in nursery rhymes, encouraging axioms, and pictures. Many of the pictures were from Elite artists around Amoi, including Raoul. One had a picture of a small child kissing the cheek of another, Raoul's name was signed into the hair of the girl being kissed.

"Suuki? Please place a plate for Amon. I assume you will be eating?"

Amon shrugged, smiling a toothy smile that Eadni would soon grow to love. Suuki had to shake himself out of his stupor, and he gathered the requested items. He realized that he and Eadni could never finish that big chicken themselves; it didn't seem it would be enough for the mongrel either.

His father had a quiet way of doing things. So calm was he, he could convince a person to do something they didn't want to do, without them even realizing it. That might explain why Suuki didn't bother asking questions about all the extra food.

They prepared the rest of the food, adding rolls and sat down to eat.

It was quiet. When they were all finished, they put the dishes in the washer and sat back down.

"So, what brings you out, Amon?"

"Just-a paying a common courtesy. I been and will be following ya'."

"Oh, well no harm in that."

Suuki sat up, well surprised. "No harm, sir? Are you sure?"

"He's been following me around for about a month and he has done you nor me any harm. I think I can take his word that that will continue."

"I don't trust him," Suuki murmured, timidly, unable to look Amon in the eye.

"That's alright," Amon and Eadni said, both smiling at each other, then at him. Suuki suddenly felt nostalgic. He's had these looks before?

The next week, Amon brought the mirrors, the next day mongrel children. Two weeks later Suuki's friends met Amon, but like Suuki grew to admire him. The next year, Amon gave Eadni a kiss for his birthday. It was several months before Amon found out that Eadni was a virgin, which could explain their later failed attempts at sex. Eadni was too tight and had no inclinations to be top.

But they were patient people with each other. Three years, and Amon never managed to keep Eadni loose enough long enough to enter him. So they simply raised approximately ten kids together secretly between Eadni's condominium and Amon's flat. They shared secrets, Amon of the spying Blondies, Eadni of Watch, which turned out to be the bigger secret.

They never told each other that they were beginning to fall in love. The fact was evident.

Now, they lied together in one bed. The eight-year-old pup Jyf gave Amon a kiss, at present too young to realize what Amon had said and had to improvise.

"I don't want ya' slobbery kisses." Amon cupped the pup around the neck and used his other hand to tickle the tiny stomach. Jyf giggled uncontrollably. When Amon stopped, he curled over to bite him, playfully, on the hand. Amon brought him down to his mouth and bit him back.

As soon as he did this, eight of the other children joined in as usual. They nibbled all over him while he pretended to eat their noses and limbs.

Eadni smiled with the youngest on his chest, a three-month-old premature kitten. The infant could fit in the palm of his hand.

"Alright, go play, all of you."

"Cousin tiward?" asked of the pups.

"Yea, I's tired."

"When we gonna eat?"

"When Suuki gets back," Eadni answered. He had cooked lunch but wanted to wait until Suuki was back from hanging out with his friends. He liked the big lunches they would have.

The child, single tail swishing, stared a bit, hoping that maybe the adults would change their big minds and have lunch now, but it didn't happen. So he went to play.

Amon then turned over, careful of the baby, and smothered Eadni, kissing his neck with soft pecks.

Eadni fell into his scent and couldn't feel happier.

-OOOOOOO-

There was no shortage of surprised outbursts when the Sovereign stepped in line for an identification card to get into Monik's Black Star Fight Cave, located somewhere deep within the mines just outside of Midas. The line had been long, though it should be noted that several Elites left the line or waved Iason ahead of them.

When they had their ID cards made, the Blondies went up to the ticket booth.

"Which fights?" asked the pretty Snake girl behind the bullet-proof glass window. There were dozens of these booths and long lines for each of them.

"It's like a amusement park for sadistic psychopaths," Ima complained.

"It's good competition, Ima," Heiku reproached. "You should know that I had wished to enter you into legal tournaments if I knew that anyone would be of a challenge to you."

Iason had yet to tell anyone that Ima was a humanoid Pet, believing that that information should be something she revealed herself, at least to her Master.

"Any fight with the man Julian," Iason finally answered.

"Julian?" Xian asked, finding the name terribly familiar.

"There's three fights. Do you want them all?" The ticket girl lifted an eyebrow in expectation; she tried not to give away the absolute joy she felt to be serving the Sovereign in one of the most prohibited areas in Amoi.

"Yes, for seven. As close to the fight as you can."

The Snake whistled. "That would be 105,000 konits, Sir."

Iason quickly did the math in his head. "Five thousand for a fight?"

"Those aren't even VIP. Plus, even regular seating for his fights tomorrow will be eight thousand and ten thousand, Sir. He's really popular, and so are some of his opponents. Tonight should be good because there's no weapons. Just hand-to-hand combat. It's not Ju's specialty, but he's still the freakin' best at it-Sir," the girl finished her little spiel, a bit out of breath and blushing. "Do you still want the tickets? The fights tend to be on the short side, too..."

The Sovereign thought for a bit. "Yes."

"Alright, cash or electronic?"

"Electronic," Iason said, taking out his card. It was a private one that Jupiter, who he hasn't talked to in a while, didn't know about and couldn't get into. 'Jeremy Bentham' was the holder of the card, a wealthy merchant from Aristia.

"You're paying for all of us? You don't have to do that," Raoul offered, only to be kicked by Omaki.

"Shut up, you."

"It's too much money!"

"No such thing," Omaki retorted. "We should let the Sovereign do what he wants, after all."

"You're incorrigible, Omaki," Heiku said, laughing.

They all had the fights programmed into their ID cards so that when they arrived at the mirrors leading to the arenas, the scanner, another good-looking humanoid of a canine variety, had the cards read and opened the warp to lead them through. The arena was crowded with people finding seats.

"Line after line after fucking line," Riki muttered, pulling irritably at his chains. Iason had said they were for his own protection and, though he hated the hell out of them, he smelled plenty of the Non-Smells down there in the caves. He tried to gesture at Ima, but he then recalled that a certain Blondie told him that he was jealous of their relationship, and it wasn't Heiku. And it wasn't any old jealously, it was burning, consuming, acidic jealously that made said Blondie want to tear Ima into tiny Wolfie bits. Riki tried to reason that they were just really good friends since childhood, but that only made the Blondie brood angrily.

They found their own seats behind the preregistered VIP seats that had been taken days before, some even weeks in advance. Custodians were washing the arena of blood in front of them.

The arena consisted of matted floor with the first seats behind a rail atop the walls. Several doors were inlaid in these walls, leading to gyms and locker rooms and hallway exits. The music blared with a rhythmic base and a man's voice rapping in the sixteenths. Ima and Riki, upon getting a ear for the song, began to rap along with him.

"And give me scoliosis until I Comatos'st, and do while I'm sleep, yea a lil' osmosis," they said together, going through the whole song easily together, swaying to the music.

"What does that even mean?" Xian asked them.

The Pets looked at each other.

"You gotta listen to the whole song, 'cause every part got its own theme, 'specially in this song." Ima looked at Riki for a better explanation, but he only shrugged.

"What she said," Riki answered, putting an arm around her, getting comfy in the familiar atmosphere. He's been to fights but never anything as fancy and convoluted as Monik's.

He caught Iason's glare and quickly put his arm down. Everyone else saw this and couldn't be more amused, except Heiku, who was beginning to feel the same way about Ima as Iason did about Riki. The jealously was less potent, though. He wasn't in love, yet, after all.

The situation fared no better when each song that came on seemed to appeal to whatever mongrels listened to, and the Pets sung each one together with their rather tone-deaf voices. This not only made Heiku jealous, but suspicious as well. Where did Ima learn these songs from?

"Look at the marquee; Julian's fight is about to begin," Omaki informed them. He pointed to the gigantic mechanical board listing all the fights, which arena they were in, and what time. True enough, the next fight was on in seconds. Julian versus Fexin.

Moments later, the music ended and the enormous crowd hushed all sounds, it seemed like no one even breathed. Many of them wore large orange shirts to their knees, more wore golden headdresses. Plenty of them were illegal tourists, though one could see it was quite a spectacle that Blondies wore such items. There were three of them in front of the crew, in VIP, two wearing orange and the last wearing a crown inlaid with an emerald, and they seemed to be trash-talking quite a bit to each other.

The lights went out. An announcer began to speak.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen! Here we have one of the main events of tonight. Aristian-born ex-pro-wrestler Fexin is after his self-proclaimed rival, the beautiful ex-Pet Julian. I see the odds are against the wrestler, huh?"

The crowd cheered in a flurry of approvals with a few boos for the Fexin-lovers mixed in.

"Iason," came a voice.

They all turned around, and there was Katze, wearing a crown.

Ima and Riki snickered.

Katze would have given them the bird, but there were Elites present.

"I didn't think you would be here, Katze. If I had, I would have brought Daryl with me."

Katze blushed a little at that, earning more snickers. He had to stand because the chairs were touch sensitive, and if the seat wasn't bought, it gave a little shock to anyway audacious enough to sit down. "My seat's in the back,"he explained when he refused to sit. "Couldn't afford the good stuff."

"Take my card, and get this seat."

Katze, not in the least disinclined to refuse his old master, took the card and simply bought the chair right there. He brought up a hoverboard from the chair's arm and scanned the card. "You can also place your bets here. This is a good fight to get money, I can tell you," he said, returning the card.

"Damn, we could've just done that the whole time instead of the lines!" Ima exclaimed.

"Language, Ima." Heiku frowned at Riki. Bad influence, his look said.

"Actually no," Katze informed Ima. "It's a tactic for people to pay more. You pay for a seat, and you might impulsively buy another ticket for a closer seat when you're in here."

"Oh. Wow, that's good."

"That's bad, Ima."

"Yes, Master," Ima spoke in a tired tone, but shrunk in stature. Heiku was giving her a really evil glare. Some of it spread to Riki.

"Juthian!" Xian yelled, staring at arena, eyes sparking for several seconds. His friends watched in astonishment at the transformation. The once really yellow irises were now a shining, electric gold, swirling with brighter, white swirls. The all stared in shock until it wore off, his eyes turning to normal. "He's... He looks so different. But he has my gift... And the birthmark."

Juthian was waving to the crowd. It was no doubt Juthian with the true Aristian headdress Xian had bought him many years before. It had cost a pretty penny- a very, very pretty penny. Several jewels rested in its gold frame and many a merchant tried purchasing the crown from Julian, but he would always refuse.

On his right thigh, there was a light-colored birthmark, only visible because the lights were fastened on the arena. It was circular except for a triangular bump at the top. Xian found the blemish on the A-Class Pet cute, along with his long light-blue hair, tied tightly in a ponytail. He wore nothing but a pair of shorts and cropped shirt.

From when Xian and the rest of the Blondies had last seen him, he was a five-foot-two flabby, just-budding adult. Now, he was four inches taller and nothing but well-toned muscles. His unforgettable behind, renown for its volume and shape, had swelled with more hard-earned flesh. The catcalls could make a person deaf.

And it became most obvious that it was still the same Juthian when the man caught sight of his former master.

He clasped his hands to his chest and dropped his jaw, unable to believe it. His look was mirrored in Xian's face.

Oh, how he had missed Master Xian, and here he was, looking at how he was going to kick ass! But would he look at him differently?

The smile on Xian's face said otherwise.

"Hello, please come back to the fight, Julian!" the announcer called.

There was laughter that broke the stares between the former Master and Pet. The announcer checked again to see if 'Julian' was in the right place, sneaking in a snide comment about the 'funky staring at the Blondie'.

In a short bit, the fighting commenced. The movements were so quick, that everyone watching, Iason included, leaned forward in their seats to watch more carefully somehow.

While Fexin threw the first right-handed punch, Juthian dove under the arm, pushed it up and Fexin off-balance. He finished in a sweep of the left leg that sent them sprawling to the floor. There on the ground, the gentle Juthian of old times was completely wiped from the Blondies' memories as the ex-Pet pummeled Fexin there on the ground. Fexin balled up for a bit before popping out a strong fist that clipped Juthian's jaw enough to stun him. The Aristian took this opportunity to kick Juthian hard in the stomach, knocking him over. The crowd went wild at the reversal.

"How in the world are you so aroused Omaki?" Heiku whispered.

Omaki looked down at himself, previously unaware of his state. "No idea."

The cheers were short-lived as the wrestling on the ground went in favor of Juthian once more. He caught one of Fexin's legs in his own and punched the thigh. The skin immediately bruised as if some sort of black magic was injected. Fexin, his gloriously orange hair flying back, screamed in pain. The cry was cut short as Juthian back-flipped out of the hold, giving two square kicks with his freed legs. The second hit knocked Fexin clear out.

A referee counted down from ten, but Fexin didn't move. His fans shouted to no avail, and many lost a lot of money.

Katze cheered; he had won a lot of money and planned to spend a lot of it on a certain Furniture. He took off his headdress and twirled it around his finger like many of the other Julian fans.

Juthian didn't disappoint. He took off the Aristian prize. But when he twirled it around his finger once, it grew to ten times its size with the circumference of a large hula hoop. It shone with a luminosity that blinded the onlookers, which suited them just fine. From the headdress's edge came a single blade and what was a simple piece of art became a weapon known as a ringblade. Ringblades were hard to make and most difficult to wield but Juthian handled the weapon easily, twirling it around, throwing it in the air and catching it with his legs, and several other tricks.

"That's his main weapon,"Katze explained. "He can even control it with his Spirit."

As if to demonstrate, and with an added look to Xian, Juthian threw the ringblade into the air and moved his hands. The piece of armory stayed in the air; another movement of the hands and it became impossibly huge, then small again. He swirled it around the audience, taking special notice to carefully spin it around a certain Blondie's head.

"That's cool!"Riki shouted, two tails excitedly wagging.

"That's highly illegal," Raoul answered, downing the mongrel's spirit a bit.

"Try not to write him up, would you?" Xian gave Raoul a cold look.

Most of the audience had purchased all of Juthian's fights; the ones that didn't left. The next two fights were even shorter than Fexin's, with Juthian winning. After both, he did a different routine with his ringblade while the announcer talked about his fights next month.

Iason wasted no time on getting to Monik's private office, complete with four guards, who let him in without comment, but not the others.

"I thought I paid you this month!" Monik claimed immediately, shooting from his chair, knocking the prostitute in his lap over. The young boyish-looking man ran from the room.

"You did," Iason said simply.

"Oh." Monik sat back down, wiping the sweat off his handsome face. He had short brown hair and a broad, but particular face. He was on the small end of height yet had a deep perturbing voice. Negotiations usually went well for him. "Please have a seat. I bet you're here for Julian, or should I say Juthian?"

Iason simply raised an eyebrow in recognition, having his seat in the plush chair.

"You wouldn't believe how many guys come down here a night, Lord Mink. But Lord Sami, his old owner, paid _me_ a lot to have no one else own him, after he sold him, and I will abide by his wishes. It's got me millions, you see. I can't refuse you, though... But, like I said, Sir Sami paid me."

"He's with me; I will bring him in."

"With you?" Iason opened the door, and Monik saw the Blondie with the strange eyes. He waved at the bodyguards to let him in.

"I see you guys are friends! Wait, don't close the door- Foon! Get me Juli!"One of the guards rushed off."I knew I was gonna see your face one day, Lord Sami, I just-a knew it! You had the eyes of a guy that was not quite finished, and probably never will be." Monik had a Pullian accent, from Pulla, Amoi, but it was barely there.

Xian simply laughed at himself; he was just happy to see Juthian again.

"Your friend here wants to purchase Juli. I wanted to get you and his permission before we make a negotiation."

"For what?" asked Xian.

"I need a new Furniture," Iason remarked. "I do believe that Juthian is more than capable of anything Riki dreams of doing, if he has anymore of those dreams."

Xian frowned at once. "He wouldn't want that. He's terrified of being without a penis."

"Can you truly speak for him after all this time?"

"I know at least that he is enjoying himself right now."

Iason had a sudden realization, something of which he was having a lot. This Juthian wasn't like some Midas orphan or a foreign wanderer looking for work. Juthian had a life, an exhilarating and dangerous life. Would he trade all that to become a measly Furniture?

Juthian walked in, wearing jeans and a colorful T-shirt, texting on a phone. When he was finished, he grinned hugely at Xian and gave a confused glance at Iason and then at Monik.

"Lord Mink wants you to become his Furniture," Monik told him.

Juthian's face instantly fell. His crushed visage tugged hard at Xian's heartstrings while making Iason think twice about his decision.

"If you really need one, Lord Mink, I will be happy to serve-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Monik interrupted. "You a free guy, Juli. If you and Lord Sami say a-no-a, then you can go right back to your room."

"I can't say no to the.. the _Sovereign_. Plus, I can see....Ma-"Juthian stopped, then mumbled, "Lord Sami again."

"The _Sovereign_ ain't even supposed to be here. I have no problems making that clear, you hear me? Anyway, Sami can see you at your fights each month."

"His fights are only once a month," Iason said to himself. "That will be no problem with me, if that is what the both of you are having reservations about."

"It's not just that, Lord Mink-"

"And I won't require you to be castrated."

The room's other three occupants looked at him in surprise. Xian's mouth dropped.

"What?" Juthian said dumbly.

"Is there still a problem?"

"No! I... I would be very happy to serve you, Master Iason." Juthian shouted, looking straight at his old Master.

"Xian?" Iason asked.

"Yes, it's fine with me." Xian was in some sort of shock. He stared happily as Iason slipped a Furniture ring on Juthian's finger. Besides that, Iason paid a costly amount that Xian wouldn't be able to afford himself.

They all waited for Juthian to pack his things and say good-bye to his friends, who all were upset to see him leave all-of-a-sudden. He promised to call and text, which was all he was doing on the way home. Xian gave him his number.

The golden-eyed Blondie had the best night of sleep he's ever had.

And the Non-Smells had a very important meeting for themselves. What had happened tonight had set them into action.

-**You're here? Then, please review! I would really appreciate it! Just click the review button, type a few words, and yippie~-**


	10. New Friends?

**AN: **:D I love this story so much. I just love writing it. I can't even watch Lost without writing, so I go between the two of them, pausing and stopping and playing and writing.

**Oh yea, I disclaim the song I used last chapter which was Kid Cudi's "Maker Her Say". The song belongs to him. Also, I disclaim this chapter's sampling of "I Look Good" by Chalie Boy. Ditto.**

Lots a dialogue in this one! ^-^

**Don't be shy and review~! Please, please, please? **

MikkiSenpai: The Dream chapter was just a teaser. :D And I shall say no more about it, or anything about what happened directly before that time, but I just might post another dream chapter.

Chapter 8 of...New Friends?

"That's your third cup o' wine, Iason," Riki told him. It was around a week after the acquirement of Juthian.

"How many times must I tell you?" the well-endowed 'Furniture' yelled exasperatedly. "You do not question your master, and you must call him Master. _Master_ Iason, Riki."

"And how many times I got to tell ya' that I can question _Iason _as much as I want."

"Permission to punish Pet, Master Iason?"

Offhandedly, Iason answered, "Permission granted."

"Aw, shit, Iason!"

Iason didn't answer, but merely sipped his wine, not even looking at his beloved Pet. The Pet himself was starting to feel there was something seriously up with his Master.

"That's nine strikes, _Sir_ Riki," Juthian needled, bringing out the magnificent Aristian taming stick Xian had bought him days before, as protection against the mongrel Pet. As powerful as Juthian was, he wouldn't be able to handle a humanoid in full rage, not unless he wanted some nasty scratches. But it helped that Riki was a bit afraid to confront the fighting champ. Plus, seven of their nine fights were won by Juthian. The two Riki won were because he caught the Furniture completely by surprise.

Riki was only five-feet-five, and Juthian used this small difference in height to the best of his advantage, using one arm to bring the mongrel down by the neck and give him his earned strikes with the taming stick. When he let him go, Riki tried to hit him in the face, as expected.

Juthian easily dodged the swinging fist and laughed, popping Riki's bared behind. Eight-Two, in favor of Juthian.

"Damn, that hurt," Riki muttered, pulling up his pants. It didn't hurt nearly as much as when Iason would have done it but still, a taming was a taming. It burned just enough to make him behave another few days.

Riki went to go pout- forgetting about his asshole Master- outside with the bodyguard Odi, who seemed to be talking to the chef Tai. They had their backs turned to him as they spoke.

"Come to my room tonight, Tai," Odi murmured, encircling his arms around Tai's ample waist. For Odi, Tai's chubbiness only added to his charm. He came to find out that the cook was a shy city boy from Aristia and used to cook for the emperor himself as one of the many cousins and relatives who served him. When the emperor got mysteriously sick one day, the blame was placed on Tai's poor cooking ability. Though everyone knew that he was one of the best cooks, if not the best, it was better for the rest of them to have an easy scapegoat. Tai was young and a bit clumsy sometimes; he was his opponents' best bet.

Fortunately for him, the emperor remembered his good food enough that instead of executing him, he simply banished him until he turned forty-five. He was now forty-three. By now, Tai was beginning to think he didn't want to go back after all. Not with the insistent Odi complaining how much he would miss him.

"How many times will you ask me that, Odi? And let go of me. Someone will see."

Odi obeyed his request. "I will ask until you say yes."

Tai twiddled his thumbs, looking over the wonderful view of Tanagura and all its beautiful lights of the evening. His hands were covered by Odi's and Tai really began to consider the handsome bodyguard.

"Can we just talk?" Tai asked, bringing his sweet eyes to meet Odi's. "And maybe... We can kiss, too."

"We don't even have to go that far," Odi said hurriedly, already excited at the cook's timid acquiescence, and more than ready to make the date as accommodating as possible for him.

Tai smiled, then looked down at his toes. He pulled away his hands, murmuring, "Well, I will see you after dinner then. I need to clean up from lunch and start... And start on that dinner." A little laugh left the cook before he walked away.

"Yea, see you then," Odi called after him.

Riki quickly hid behind a nearby plant, where Juthian was listening. They bumped into each other and could only crouch around one another when Tai passed by.

"You shouldn't eavesdrop," Juthian said.

"Look who's talking."

"I didn't hear a thing from here; I was just watching you," Juthian said truthfully.

"Liar," Riki asserted, though he believed him anyway. "I'mma take a smoke."

"I'll come with you."

Odi punched Riki in the arm as soon as he saw him. Juthian dodged the one meant for him.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"That's for spying on me and Tai," Odi told him with a smile. Then he added seriously, "But, really, try not to let Tai catch on that everyone knows about us. He's self-conscious as it is."

"Yea, yea, yea."

"I'm serious!"

"I know. Unlike Iason, I care."

"I've noticed he's been acting a little strangely. What's up?"Juthian said, taking out his phone. The boy loved his phone, but good thing he was good at multitasking.

"He doesn't tell me anything. I'm just his friggin' Pet. Even after I told him all that... stuff."

"What stuff?"

Riki puffed on his cigarette. "Secret," he said.

Odi shrugged, "You don't think the Head of Security should know?"

"Well... Iason told me not to tell anyone else who wasn't involved- Che!" Riki sucked in his teeth at the slip.

"Involved? Who else is involved?"

"Let's just change the topic okay? I just wanted a fuckin' cig."

"Oi, calm down. I got it, top secret. I won't bring it up again." _Just hope it won't come back to bite me in the ass. _

"How's Daryl?" Riki asked after another puff.

"Oh, he and Katze are doing great!" Juthian exclaimed excitedly, popping letters with one thumb while flailing the other hand. "It seems like those two Furniture were like super good with computers. I mean, I'm alright, but Iason has them hacking and stuff, like Alpha Zen computers and stuff."

"You sure you ain't supposed to be spreading what you hear around?" Odi whispered carefully.

"Hm? No, Daryl told me... Wait, he did tell me to tell no one else! Damn it, Iason will kill me! Don't tell, ok?"

Inside, Iason sipped his third glass of wine. Even if he did know about Juthian, he wouldn't be that interested, just punish the kid, and get on with his worrying. What had him distracted and, ironically, acting more Blondie than usual was the fact that Jupiter had urgent news for him and wished for his presence. The problem was that the news was so important that she didn't give a shred of extra information on what it was about. The mysteriousness of it worried Iason. It could be anything drastic: a successful attack on the Grid, endangerment to allies and entrepreneurial partners, or even some traitorous plot from within. He had another hour before he knew for sure.

His thoughts went back to Daryl and Katze or Nico and Aether. Either couple posed a threat to the no-smell Blondies, and Iason was still at a lost for what their intentions were. The overly regular Elites only filed other Blondies on a whim, but why not them? Or maybe they have now...

Common sense told Iason that they needed proof; with all the other written-up Elites, there was plenty of evidence. But Nico and Aether were covering their tracks unbelievably well. If Iason hadn't spoken with them a week ago, he would never have guessed that they had taken their relationship beyond the platonic level. Well, he might have guessed a bit beyond that; Nico was Nico.

His thoughts whirred together just so. He wasn't getting drunk, or anywhere near it, just pleasantly buzzed enough to feel comfortable.

"I wonder what he's thinking about..." Riki voiced.

"Ha, knew you were curious," Odi retorted, shoving an elbow into him.

Riki scoffed, waving the offending joint away. "I was just saying stuff aloud. I don't care."

"You should," Juthian warned, nodding. "It'll put you in his good graces."

"Like I care about being in his 'good graces', damn it."

"This isn't just about being a good Pet. Master has had you for three years; he obviously thinks you're special."

"I'm just a toy."

"No, that's you talking. Master Iason thinks you're a special Pet, which puts you above being an accessory, like most Blondies treat their Pets. He _still _allows you down to the Pet Saloon though all you do is fight, he lets you drink- that might be because you don't have any Controls on you, he lets you sit at the same table as him. Did you know Pets don't have that kind of luxury. I didn't, not even with Master Xian." Juthian talked regularly through text with his ex-Master, but still couldn't get rid of the habit of calling him Master, even after eight years.

"I hate how he has to _let _me do stuff," Riki said, grasping at straws.

"And a guy your age! With your looks- you're not exactly Pet material in the physical department. He shouldn't even be attracted to you; he was wired since birth to enjoy certain things. Mongrels isn't one of them."

"He's just a sadistic bastard who enjoys making a mess outta- He's pouring himself more wine, what the fuck is wrong with him?"

Riki turned to his new friends for support only to meet their upturned eyebrows and smiling faces.

"I'm not worried! I'm just, just curious!" With that, Riki walked back inside, trying to look leisurely, ignoring the two's jeers.

"How many drinks you gonna get, Iason?"

"That is not your place to ask," Iason said easily, unaware how suddenly he had riled his Pet.

"Fine! I was just worried about you!" Riki whirled away angrily but was grabbed by Iason.

"Riki. You were worried about me?"

"Did I just say that? Yes, I's said I was!" The look on Iason's face, the more chill look he was used to, made Riki a bit glad he said the truth.

"On my lap, Riki," Iason ordered, then wrapped his arms around his beloved Pet. "I shouldn't drink so much. Though I do have a higher tolerance than you recognize."

"I guess that's as close to a apology as I'mma get."

Iason thought for a moment: Apologizing? To a mongrel? Well, if he could fuck him...

"I'm sorry for my comment earlier."

Shocked, Riki raised his head to look his Master in the face. "It's cool," he said, bringing his head down to nestle closer, taking a strand of blonde hair between his fingers, contemplating.

"Riki, Jupiter has called me to her Chambers. That is what I am thinking of."

"She's called you before, right? What's different now?"

"The news you gave me."

"Oh. Well, no use worrying about it. I thought you of all people would think like that."

"That may be because I never really worried about anything."

"Except me," Riki cracked, smiling against Iason's chest.

"Except you."

Iason pushed Riki away enough to have room for a kiss, a sweet kiss. It was slow, but insistent, their tongues rolling lazily around each other. They separated only slightly out of breath.

"I'm surprised you're going to leave me alone," Riki said, taking Iason's hair again.

Iason was perplexed, only subconsciously aware of what Riki meant.

At his furrowed brow, Riki explained further, "I mean, even with what you told Raoul, you don't trust the guards enough to save me from a bunch of Blondies in case they attack or something, do you?"

And then Riki had an idea. "Hey, let me go out tonight while you're gone." Ironically, he used the word 'let', though he supposedly hated being 'let' to do anything.

"Absolutely not."

"Why?"

"For the same reasons you have just mentioned."

"Do you think they would do anything in public? In front of a lotta people?"

"You can go to the Saloon, as usual," Iason said in a non-negotiating tone.

Riki sighed extravagantly. "But then Juthian will have to be super polite to me, and I hate that. And those stuck-up bitches are always picking fights."

"Are you sure it's not you?"

"I'm sure."

Riki folded his arms, cross, and apparently inconsolable. He refused a kiss, a kiss that went to his cheek instead of his lips.

"What's this all of a sudden, Riki?" Iason demanded, now getting a bit impatient himself.

"I just hate being where I don't belong."

"But you are where you belong, Riki. With me. You are my Pet, and I wish to see you alive and well to be so as long as possible."

Riki muttered despondently, "Just a stinking Pet."

Iason abruptly pulled Riki's sad face to his. "Not just any Pet. You are my Pet. My naughty, wonderful, beautiful mongrel Pet."

Said mongrel briefly admired the sincerity of Iason's remark. He wrapped a piece his Master's blonde strands while thinking of something smart to say, but he came up completely blank.

At his silence, Iason continued, "You are a special Pet. That much is evident by our spying guests."

"It's only because you're Sovereign."

"I've been Sovereign for a long time, and nothing like this happened until you came along. I wouldn't even be aware if you hadn't told me."

"Yea, you wouldn't know those guys were following you if they had gone and sniffed your neck."

Iason smiled, hugging Riki close.

"You know, it's gonna be weird if you shut me up in here. They might start thinking that we caught wind of 'em."

Iason laughed. "I must hand it to you. That is your most compelling case thus far."

"But it's true too. Raoul hasn't even let Yui out to do groceries."

"That is a problem."

"What if it's just me, Juthian, Yui?"

"Katze will have to join." Riki nodded, looking hopeful, though he didn't like the idea of someone so close to being a bodyguard like Katze. "And then Daryl will go. I suppose you want Ima to come along, as well?"

Riki's dark eyes widened in surprise and a smile spread over his face. "That would be awesome."

"Fine." Iason checked his watch. He had little under half an hour to make preparations.

"Fine? Fine as in yes?"

"Call Juthian in, Pet, and Odi as well."

Riki groaned. "He's coming too? Wouldn't that be suspicious?" The dark-haired mongrel wondered about Odi's date with Tai.

"No, he's not coming. I just wish to tell him that there might be need for him to be extra cautious tonight. Who knows what may happen."

-OOOOOOO-

"Oh, fucking Jupiter, we're finally outta that place! Outta that freakin' Paradise Tower!"

"Palace Tower, Riki," Daryl corrected Riki. The Furniture had a arm around Katze's waist, and the 'bodyguard' had one around his, and they walked in a jointed saunter.

It was some time since Katze had any sort of break- Iason didn't believe in leisure time, not for a Furniture who has hacked the system and knew more about Watch than Eadni did.

He had found files deep within the database of the Grid. So deep, the only reason he even found the files was because he had made a few mistakes, mistakes that he believed would have gotten him killed. Instead he found the files on Watch and several messages between Jupiter and many men of a group called Sentinels. But before he could read any of the messages, Iason caught him and swiped a whip over his eye. Scariest moment of his life.

On the other hand, Daryl has lead a less-daring life, and this was the first time he has visited a club that was outside a Midas Orphanage Center trip. The only way he could do this now was because of Katze, his cool, strong, good-humored... lover? Well, that was a bit impossible, but still. Boyfriends, that had a ring to it.

Now, poor Yui had been raised to be sold as a Furniture by the Elite Stella Family, born in a test tube, grew up in a larger one. The thought of partying so that his Master would seem more normal boggled his poor mind. He had to be dressed by Juthian and Ima in something suitable for a club, borrowing from the girl jewelry and make-up. In the end, he looked 'soooooo cute' but he only felt veeeeeery nervous.

What's more, they had his newest friend: Raoul's new Pet Regiland. An insufferable little bugger that was making Yui's life horrible. Regiland had in turn invited Xian's Pet Lusa, who lived partly in a Midas condo because Xian currently didn't have a Furniture to take care of him.

"So, where are we going, Furniture?" Regiland asked haughtily. "Why hadn't we just stayed at the Saloon?"

"I don't know why you didn't stay, Sir Lusa, but my Master has given me privilege to leave the Tower and actually have fun in Midas." Juthian stuck out his tongue at Riki and Ima, rolling his eyes. They snickered in response.

"Isn't Midas dangerous?" Lusa inquired, looking at the others doubtfully.

"Not if you can kick ass like I can."

"Or me," added Riki.

"Or meeee!" Ima went.

They looked at Katze expectantly.

"Or me."

"Midas is usually very safe," Yui said softly. "I go there because there are these beets that are only sold at the on the southern side of Midas, nearer the Great Forest. Master likes them."

"Who cares?" Regiland asserted.

Quickly, to the rescue, Ima said, "I do! I've never heard you talk about anything other than your Master. You should talk about yourself."

"Oh, there's nothing really special-"

"Where are we going?" Regiland demanded again.

"Damn it," Riki swore, rising up against the proud Pet, ironically of the same Family as his Furniture. "Look, we're going to Arcadia, a nice lil' club in Midas. We took the ride here 'cause your feet are so damn sensitive, so quit your bitchin'."

The rest of the group continued walking when Regiland spat, "Filthy mongrel."

Spinning around, Riki burst out, "Yea, well, I'm a 'special Pet' that the Sovereign has kept for three fuckin' years. Damn bastard... Raoul is only going to keep you for one!"

Yui softly corrected, "Master Raoul is only going to keep him for six months."

"What?" Regiland cried. "Where did you hear that?"

"I didn't. He was commanded to do so, by Jupiter. Master only has to keep you for six months."

Regiland, shocked by this, didn't back down. "Well, that doesn't mean he will only keep me for that long. I'm a igood/i Pet," he added, giving Riki an ugly look.

But the mongrel was determined to have a good time. And he sort of, kind of, might have promised a little promise that he wouldn't fight. But Iason should know him better than that! Especially with the annoying little bitches hanging out with them.

Ima put an arm around him, then another around the uncomfortable Yui.

Juthian walked a bit slower and tapped Katze. "Can I talk to you for a bit? It's about what Master Iason said. Private," he told Daryl.

"Alright." When they had spread a good few feet ahead of the crew, Katze asked, "Is this about the mongrels following us?"

"Those aren't mongrels. Those are Elites in disguise. They are too big to be mongrels. And they don't walk like mongrels either."

"I was thinking the same thing. So, what are we going to do about them?"

"Aren't you the expert?"

Katze thought for moment. "You think they are-"

"Yes, I think they may be part of the group following all of us. You got the memo from Iason, too?"

"Yep," Katze laughed, "It came as a shocker."

"Well, let's lie low for now."

"Alright."

Two hours later they were in a club, Ima and Riki trying to dance with the awkward Yui (who became less anxious the more alcohol they put in him).

"On my Momma, On my Hood,

I look Fly, I look Good," was how the hook went to Yui's favorite song, a favorite made that night. It was played three times and by that third time Yui knew all the words to it, swaying back and forth with the mongrel Pets.

Regiland and Lusa could not drink- it could hamper their Controls. And at this club filled mostly with tourists they felt a little out of sorts. Several times they were asked to perform and had to tell the solicitors that they didn't work at Arcadia.

Together, they hid out in the corridors of the club, where the stalker Elites decided against snapping their necks to lead Juthian or Katze to them. They saw the Ex-Furniture looking at them; with that, they knew the man would never fall into their trap.

Yui and Daryl, unused to drinking, wobbled in their steps as they came from the club. Ima held Yui together and Katze had Daryl. Riki played a digital game on Juthian's cellphone while Regiland and Lusa sulked in the back.

Katze whispered to Juthian, "Make sure to tell Iason."

"Sure thing."

-OOOOOOO-

In Jupiter's Chambers, the basement of Eos Tower, Iason was being told far less distressing news than he imagined. Though it was still very important, it was far better than his friends being filed.

"This is just one of the many times the Alpha Zen's senate has changed hands. I'm afraid I don't understand your concern."

"Iason," Jupiter called. She had materialized before him, surrounded by mirrors of the highest quality. The two-way mirrors strengthened the Grid, multiplying its reflection, a power that few could possibly understand. It was made by the first elves and human sorcerers for conjuring up spirits, but now housed Jupiter's Chambers, where only the Sovereign had access.

"Yes?"

"There is something I wish to tell you."

Iason waited patiently. He knew that Jupiter if changed into a physical form, their conversation should prove a bit more interesting than some sudden coup.

"Before you were born, a humanoid ambassador named Anori Khosi from Alpha Zen came here to Amoi. He died in an vehicle accident a week into his stay."

"And?"

"The senate is no longer, Iason. The power of Alpha Zen rests in the hands of Anori Khosi's brother, Commander Voshka.

"The critical matter is that Voshka, when his brother died, tried to get in contact with then-Sovereign Azan, claiming that his brother was murdered. He said certain incriminating letters explained that Anori was being followed by Blondies and Elites during his stay."

At this, Iason's attention snapped to her. His heart began doing flips. With his cool visage, nothing showed his sudden tension, and soon he got his heart rate to normal. This was so quick Jupiter didn't notice anything more than Iason suddenly become more interested.

"There were several more irrational allegations made by Anori that Voshka, in his grief, believed to be true."

"Do you believe he still has a grudge?" Iason secretly hoped so. It would be easier to bring up conversation. In an amused sort of way, he also realized that the new Commander was older than him, but absurdly young in the eyes of Dragon humanoids, which Iason guessed was Voshka's race.

"I'm not sure. However, I wish you to be prepared. The Continent Trade Convention has already passed, but I believe that the Commander will wish to see you sometime soon. He has already established genial relations with the neighboring countries of Aristia, Jan, and Gardan. It's only a matter of time."

"fI will look out for his contact. I would go so far as offer a visit of hospitality, if you believe that will cool his nerves."

"Only if he asks for a visit."

_I knew you would say that_.

"There is another thing. He has already sent a present for you, Iason. It should have arrived on the first floor."

"A present?"

"A present."

"I'm sorry," Iason said, quite confused. Wondering how Jupiter knew about the present before he did, unless it had to go through customs, which went through the Grid. "I can't recall doing anything particularly spectacular that will warrant a present."

"It is a sex slave. I don't believe he quite understands the concepts of Pets."

This only baffled the Sovereign even more.

"One last thing. There have been rumors, Iason. Rumors which I have no doubt are true. However, as I have seen that it has done nothing to interfere with your work, I am willing to make accommodations. However, you cannot have two Pets. I suggest you rid yourself of the mongrel."

"I will take that into mind," murmured Iason, not promising anything, and not a little nervous about the rumors. Why would she let him get away with it?

Luckily for him, Jupiter didn't push the issue.

So, Iason Mink now had two Pets.


	11. Getting the Idea?

Warnings: Sexual Activity

Chapter 9 of... Getting the Idea? 

The next morning after the night-out, Yui was watching Regiland pleasure himself for his master in the living quarters. Raoul, shirt unbuttoned and showing a well-defined upper body, stroked himself lazily, as if uninterested, his cheek resting on a loosely closed fist. Several times, when Regiland seemed a bit more distracted by his own ministrations, Raoul would stare at Yui, and Yui's heart would beat faster. His master's eyes seemed trapped on him and Yui would have no choice but to stare back. He was afraid to turn his head away.

"Come, Pet," Raoul demanded, not even close to finish with himself yet, something that was rare for him to do. He thought seeing the boy in climax would trigger his own, but it didn't. However, his thoughts did drift to Yui, as they have been lately. The Blondie was beginning to recognize Yui as one of the highest forms of beauty there was. Of course, he noticed his prettiness when he bought him at the Stella estate (as he did Regiland) but he never quite noticed the delicate curve of his cheek, the dimpled chin, and the nearly flawless, pore-less skin. And this was all without make-up; with it, like last night, he looked downright stunning. Decorated like a cherub, Raoul's hands itched to paint him.

"You're dismissed. Go to your room."

Regiland, a bit offended, said in a syrupy voice, "But, Sir, you have yet to find your own release."

"Are you back-talking? You've had your chance. Now, go, before I beat you senseless."

Frightened, Regiland waited until Yui finished cleaning him. He, angrily, bumped into him on the shoulder as he went to his room to brood. He didn't think he wanted his Master to keep him six months.

"Shall I retire as well?" Yui asked.

"Did I tell you to? Idiot." Raoul said the word reflexively.

Unfazed, Yui stood there, waiting for instructions. He had his hands clasped in front of himself and once in a while would squeeze them nervously.

Finally, Raoul gave an order. "Come to my room."

Yui thought maybe his master had a slip-of-the-tongue, but he stood and went straight to his room. Yui followed.

Raoul was sitting on the bed, still with a stiff erection. "Close the door," he said, but in much softer tones than he ever used before. His Furniture closed the door quickly.

"On your knees- come to me and get on your knees," Raoul commanded, unsure of himself for one of the few times in his life, but then he shook it off. He could do this. All he needed was a little taste, and he would make a decision. If Iason could, why couldn't he? Surely his feelings were stronger...

"Why are you shaking, Yui?"

"Because I am am afraid, Master."

"Don't be. But what I want you to do is.. is quite taboo. This is very much looked down upon. You know that?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Do you know what I want you to do?" Raoul's voice had taken a gruff edge.

"Yes, Sir," Yui repeated, shaking even more visibly as Raoul freed his large member. When he did so, several Bars fell out of his body in excitement, falling over Yui. The Furniture didn't mind. He placed his small hands around the cock in front of him; it was hot, pulsing, and sensitive, jumping at his touch and breath.

Raoul carefully let his claws trail through Yui's soft, thin hair. "Go on. Do what you can."

Yui enjoyed this gentler Master. He deftly licked up the precum that had gathered at the tip then slathered his tongue all over the head, liking the taste. He took the member into his mouth as far as it would go and began to pump his head. Fortunately, Raoul didn't say anything the several times his teeth scraped him. Raoul actually seemed to like it.

Raoul growled an effective growl that sent shudders down Yui's spine. The Blondie ended up tearing his own sheets to keep his strength at bay; to keep from completely ravishing his sweet Furniture.

When his master began to pant quickly in his usual way, Yui decided to up the ante a bit, like he would see Pets doing for one another. He curled his fingers around Raoul's testicles and gave them a firm, luxurious roll in his palm, doing it over and over until his master came in strong, copious spurts that he swallowed thickly. He milked what was left, squeezing the base of his master's shaft until he was told to stop.

"Tha-That was perfect Yui... Good boy." Raoul, quite pleased, closed his eyes to revel in the moment. Then he glanced down at his Furniture dutifully tucking him back inside his pants. He smiled; his Furniture blushed, smiling back.

Then Raoul made the mistake of looking at himself in a nearby mirror on the wall. Two triangular ears had made themselves visible along with gray stripes on his face and torso, all the way down to his pelvic area- probably crossing over to his legs. His eyes had taken a completely elliptical shape and were more gray than blue. Parts of him were covered in a fine film of fur, also grayish-blue. His pants had ripped a little, and he looked like a gigantic beast.

Yui began to suspect a foul mood, so he stood and, quite bravely, sat directly beside his master, in front of the mirror.

Raoul's settled his blocked view on Yui, eyes somber. He felt confused, and for a Blondie, that was saying a lot. "I'm a monster." His face was feral.

Unsure of what to say, but not wanting his master to suffer from his silence, Yui said, "I don't think so."

"Of course you don't. You're my Furniture. You're... a good boy, Yui." The Blondie covered his face with his hand, silently grateful he didn't have to deal with this alone. But the more he thought about it, how unfair it all was, how he, of all people, could be a dreaded humanoid! "I was manufactured by Jupiter. I shouldn't be like this!" Raoul then grabbed a shoe and threw it at the mirror; it was strong enough to only crack on impact.

"Why me?" he murmured to himself.

Yui whispered, "Not just you."

"What did you say?"

"Not just you, Master, but others as well- Master Sami with his eyes and all those Blondie Elites that claimed they didn't know about the Bars, or that they were there since birth. What if they were telling the truth?"

The thought had never came to the Blondie's mind; he never would have conjured up such an explanation, but the claim held promise now. Surely, he wasn't the only Blondie to pass through Watch with less than human appendages, less than Blondie-looking parts. Perhaps, Raoul thought, their true appearances could range as differently as their brains were.

Plus, what really gave the allegation its form was the fact that Raoul couldn't remember a written-up Elite who failed to say that he didn't know about the Bars. As Secretary of Domestic Affairs, filing was part of his area, after they passed through Jupiter. Like her, he had never thought much about those Elites and their pleas. But now...

Then a truly ridiculous idea came to Raoul: what if to achieve the perfection of android Blondies, Jupiter i_needed/_i Bars?

-OOOOOOO-

The Pets stared at one another; one wolf, one a crossbreed between panther and lion, epitomes of canine and feline. Voshka had it in for him, Iason was sure.

The Lion's name was Enyu, and his hair was a gorgeous hue of dark blue, eyes a steamy green, lips full and pink, and a body of such sensuous curves that him walking gave a man an erection. Born in Kohari's Palace in the nation of Xeron, he has gone through masters like a hungry man tunneling a buffet. There had been plenty of money spent on this one Pet of what some masters would call divine origin.

Not only was he beautiful either, no, he could take care of himself as well. In the Palace, the slaves were taught various forms of martial arts to protect themselves. Enyu often relied on these skills in dangerous situations- burglaries and kidnappings, for example. Even when the attacker was twice his size, he proved no match for either Enyu's sexual or physical prowess.

And that was exactly what bothered Riki the most. Enyu's infuriatingly pretty self hid his awesome strength and wit. It made him manipulative, which Enyu had no trouble doing. The sex slave knew when to back off and come on to Iason, and several times Riki caught the Blondie petting Enyu just behind the ears just as he would to him. Forget the fact that he hated when Iason did that.

At first, the mongrel asked himself why should he care, but soon that was worn away by jealously, though he was the one to share Iason's bed each night, in front of Enyu. After two weeks, before Iason came home from work, Riki and Enyu were having one of their usual squabbles.

"Would you two stop it?" pleaded Juthian, quite tired of their antics. "You know if I punish you, Iason will do it twofold."

"This little punk won't shut the fuck up!" Riki yelled, barging his face in front of Enyu's.

Enyu did not like this; however, he liked the taste of the taming stick even less, so he ran his mouth. "Little?" He mewed, something which drove Riki absolutely insane. "I'm way taller than you are."

"Not in that way, shithead."

"Funny, you always make yourself scarce when I perform, so how would you know?"

"Because of how big your head is- and you're a pussy."

"I'm quite proud of how big my 'head' is, and, anyway, you like pussy. Let's not forget Ima and Mimea, now. I bet they smelled like fish."

"You like fish, kitty-cat."

Unlike Juthian, who wanted to keep the peace, the other members of the house found enjoyment in their clever banter, which now looked to be won by Riki this time round. Riki snickered at his last comment as Enyu searched for a good comeback.

Odi called, "Ding-ding-ding. And Riki wins the third round."

"Please don't encourage them," Juthian hissed, pointing an accusatory finger at the bodyguard.

"Ugly mongrel!" Enyu screamed. "Filthy, little gutter-mouse. I can skin you alive!"

"Oh, well, then, try it! I'll fucking get your tongue, stuck-up bitch." And Enyu charged at Riki.

Juthian got out the taming stick, and Odi came rushing to help, knowing Enyu's outburst was partly his fault. Juthian gave him angry looks as they pried the fighting duo away from each other. Riki had a rapidly healing scratch on his face and Enyu had to grow another molar somewhere.

Riki was pinned first, getting ten painful strikes that resounded throughout the room. Enyu got his next, snarling at the horrible Furniture that was able to hit him like he was of importance.

"Now, both you go to your rooms until-"

At that moment, Iason came through warp, talking through a closed-Dimension mirror to Raoul about the theory of every Blondie wearing some sort of Bar, probably since birth. Iason saw Raoul's humanoid state, his animalistic beauty made Iason think of Riki. What should have deterred his senses only made him more attracted to his Pet. But there was little doubt in his mind that if the times were reversed, if he had seen Raoul before Riki, things would be different. He was grateful they weren't.

In the end, Raoul and Iason decided there will be a small gathering this weekend, before next week of Eadni's Birthday, to test the proffered theory.

After saying goodbye, he saw his two Pets, looking quite disconcerted. The Blondie knew they had been punished, and thus, they were to be punished by him as well.

Iason sighed, holding out his hand for the taming stick.

"Aw, damn. Can we have five minutes?"

"May I go first, Sir?" Enyu wheedled, sauntering up to Iason like a good little Pet.

"Two-faced punk."

Iason was again entranced by Enyu's walk and, as he followed him to the his chair, his smell. He had noticed that Riki hated the smooth steps and the "nasty" smell. Iason enjoyed the jealously immensely.

Just when he got comfortable in his seat, and the tail firmly pinned down, the Central Light rung with an urgent bell, a ring that only Iason was supposed to answer. It wasn't Jupiter's tone though, which was a source of great relief to the Sovereign.

"I'm not done with either of you," Iason promised, and then sat himself in a chair Juthian brought in front of the communications screen. He answered the call. A wondrously handsome Dragon humanoid came onto the screen; his dark hair shone with a thick silky softness. He was tall, even for a Dragon, with wide, curved shoulders. He looked delicate and powerful at the same time.

In the middle of his forehead was an oval cut emerald Source. A Source held the Spirit of all Dragons. Destroy the gem (or remove it, as the practice was), and one could kill a dragon, or at least remove any magical abilities, rendering them almost as useless as a mere human.

With a Source that size and color, and what with the decorations on the man's clothes and furniture in the bedroom, this Dragon was none other than Voshka Khosi himself- Supreme Commander of Alpha Zen.

"My," he said with a toothy grin. "Your face is absolutely priceless."

Iason rearranged it, looking more relaxed. "Wine, Juthian."

"I didn't only mean expression. You have..." Here, Voshka searched for the correct Amoian word. "...A beautiful face."

Uncertain of what to say to this brazen flirt who had no idea about Amoi's social customs, apparently, Iason sipped his wine that recently arrived and looked accidentally shamelessly over the rim of his glass with half-lidded eyes. He was suddenly aware of the effect he was having on the Dragon, and put his glass down.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you," he said in perfect Alphazenian.

"No worries." The relief to hear his own language was evident. "I had meant to surprise you, to see how you would react," Voshka said honestly.

"I hope I met your expectations," Iason answered wryly.

The answer came out sultry. "Above and beyond." Voshka shook his hair out of his eyes, settling back in his posh chair and continued to the point, "You might be thinking that I have called on you to establish good relations with you because of my less-than-noble acquirement of my position."

"That is not the reason why you called?"

"I have no intentions of spreading my rule beyond Alpha Zen territory and if I did, I wouldn't tell you and no piece of paper treaty can hide that, correct?"

"I agree," Iason answered carefully, drinking his wine.

"Swell. Good relationship established. Now, I will turn off this call, and do not panic." And he cut off the Central Light.

Puzzling over the Commander's last remark, Iason shut off the Central Light. He got up, just thinking that he would take Riki to his room and possibly make love again, or fight, whichever mood Riki would be in today. Iason has yet, even after three years, managed to tame Riki in any form or fashion, not in behavior or thought. Sure, he fought less and stayed calm more often, but that was intermittent with large bursts of anger and violence against Juthian and Enyu, and even Iason sometimes. But Iason will have his way in the end, he will drive it home that he was the Master and Riki was the Pet.

Iason's serious thoughts stopped with a shock as Iason ran into Voshka Khosi standing right behind him.

This time Voshka laughed out loud at Iason's shocked countenance.

Enyu, Juthian and Riki came from down the hall, curious about the new voice when the guards hadn't called that someone was visiting. When they saw the Dragon, they quickly hid themselves where they couldn't be seen.

"How on... How did you get here?" Iason asked, a bit breathless, but quickly gathering his neutral mien.

"I Sprung. I can Spring to anyplace I have seen, such as through our communications."

"But... The Grid. It should have blocked you."

Voshka laughed again. "I was actually a bit afraid, what with all the mistakes that I heard about. I thought it would actually keep me out this time, but that didn't happen, as you can see. Here, this is my loyal guard Anders."

Iason had been so surprised he hadn't noticed the blindfolded vassal. The man stood with his hands straight at his side, head pointed slightly downwards as if he was listening to something, which indeed he was.

"As the usual thought goes, without his eyesight his other senses have heightened beyond belief," Voshka praised, talking as if he belonged in Amoi this fine summery evening. "He probably knows how many others are in your home."

"There are seven others," Anders said, voice grim. "Should I voice my dissent to this visit once more, Sir?"

Voshka frowned; it looked out of place on his playful face. "No. Anyway, I just have a few questions and then I will be out of your hair, Iason. Well, actually, that is based on your answers."

"What is it?" Iason took a large gulp of his wine. He was just going to act as if this was normal as well. If Voshka had some underlying evil plan, well, he couldn't stop him. He saw Odi come by, standing ready for trouble, hand poised over his gun.

Voshka took from his front robe pocket a large frame, showing it to Iason. It was made completely of gold, marred only by a smear of blood, and held the picture of a gorgeous diamond-Sourced Dragon. His- or her, Iason wasn't sure- hair was tinged blue but mostly blonde and white. The hefty bangs were pushed to the side to reveal clear, glassy blue eyes.

"Have you seen anyone that looks even remotely close to this man?" Voshka inquired. His boyish face had taken a manly charm with his seriousness.

But Iason didn't know if he could respond. The man in the picture, now that he knew the gender, looked like an embellished Megala Chi, the architect who hails from his school years, and a strong tug in Iason's gut, an instinct told him that this was exactly so. But if he were to say that the person might be Chi, who knows what the Dragon would do.

"What makes you think I know him?"

Voshka sighed. "You see, his type of hair and face can come from the Elites here. Look, here, at his roots. They are blue and white on hairs that are white and blue. That must be because they have been dyed with the technology of Amoi."

Of course, Iason lamented internally, Voshka was right. Rarely, Elites who were granted a different hair color, or punished and forced to change hue, had problems with growing the right color. While other dying products and techniques couldn't change the roots no matter what, Amoian scientists usually did a good job of having the right color growing for the rest of an Elite's life.

No one was sure what caused the problems with the root and hair difference, but it was obvious this diamond Dragon suffered from it.

But Iason was good at being evasive. "Why do you need to find him?"

"I found this picture in a tree hole that only my brother and I knew about. You know of my brother, correct?"

"Yes. My deepest apologies."

Voshka waved that off. "Let bygones be bygones. I need to find this man because... I think I may have loved him once." He shook his head, trying to think of the right words. "I feel in my heart that I knew him once, knew him strongly."

The emerald in the Dragon's head had begun to glow, adding purpose to his enthusiasm.

The more Iason looked at the picture, the more sure he was that the person was Megala Chi, and he began to get uncomfortable.

"At least, Sovereign Iason, could you give me permission to search for him in your city of Tanagura? That is where most Elites of this hair color reside, yes?"

"Yes." Iason realized he couldn't very well say no, for no reason. "Yes, I can allow you to do that, as long as you enter Amoi the legal way, and with more guards."

Voshka smiled in a predatory sort of way. "I was hoping that maybe I could stay with you as I search. I had given myself five days of vacation while my associates take care of things."

Anders grunted disagreeably at this. His lord's long-lasting obsession has now become an explosive , irrational voyage. That's what Anders sincerely believed, though he did find the location of the picture questionable. For all they knew, this could be a trap made even that long ago. However, that was less likely than Voshka's belief that it was an old flame.

Voshka ignored him. "I remember that there is a guest wing in this penthouse. I could stay in one of the suites?"

At this point, the Commander had invaded the Sovereign's personal space, leaning over to put their faces right next to each other. If they spoke any louder than a whisper, they would be screaming in the other man's ear.

"Fine," Iason answered at last, knowing that he might be making a huge mistake, letting such a forceful man in the same building as the man he was probably looking for.

But it was like Juthian... The Furniture had been adamant about keeping secret on how his appearance changed so drastically over the last few years, begging for them to just 'chalk it up to working out', which of course meant that it wasn't just working out.

Yet the only way Megala Chi could be the Dragon humanoid in the picture is if he wore Bars.

And then the pieces began to fall together.


	12. Questions

AN: Review Please.

Chapter 10 of... Questions

"Thank you very much for accompanying me today, Sovereign Mink," Voshka murmured, walking along a street in Tanagura with such a despondent pace, Iason had to slow down himself. It was evening, his last night in Amoi.

Voshka Khosi had wasted no time in preparing for his trip to Amoi. Though it was only five days, he planned for it as if it was a long cruise. He still brought less guards than Iason was comfortable with, but Voshka was confident enough with his Springen and his guard Anders that he didn't need the added baggage.

Voshka took out the picture and stared at it longingly. He traced the small smile with his index finger.

On the other hand, Iason was having feelings again, not the perturbing feelings of missing, but the more distressing feelings of things were going wrong. The few times his hunch Megala Chi appeared, something punched him just below the diaphragm and made his mind go awry.

And he was having strange dreams of Eadni, of his friends, of Riki, except years and years younger. There was also this gigantic mongrel that of which he had the vaguest perception. He seemed nice and terrifying at the same time.

They were riding the elevator in the Palace Tower after Iason refused to use Voshka's Springen and the warp mirrors to get to his penthouse. He had noticed Voshka's bad mood, and Anders' tense one, and thought the elevator ride would cool them down.

The elevator stopped, and Megala Chi walked in.

But the punch didn't happen this time, as if something was telling Iason not to panic or else things would really get bad. Still, he thought, what were the chances?

When Megala Chi saw the Dragon and the blindfolded man, who Iason now knew to be a sorcerer, he made a loud gasp and made to back away out of the elevator, which beeped incessantly.

"Please come in, would you?"

Megala saw Iason and quickly walked in. Even from behind his bangs, Iason could spot the Blondies surprised wide eyes, the same watery clear eyes from the picture. Yes, diamond Dragon and Megala Chi were one in the same, Iason was now completely sure.

"Commander Voshka Khosi, this is Lord Chi."

Voshka, leaning against the elevator door, shook Megala's hand, ruling the man out automatically by his hair color.

"Hey," Voshka called, "I think I will stay at a different place tonight, on top a mountain near that tree I have told you about, and Spring back in the morning to gather my troops, if you don't mind."

"Of course, I don't mind," Iason answered, though he had plans for the Dragon when he back to his home. "I'm sorry you hadn't found who you were looking for."

In the next moment, Voshka disappeared with his shadow Anders. As soon as he left, Megala dropped to his knees, breathing heavily.

Iason immediately bent down to help him up. "Did he scare you that much, Megala?"

Megala did a rare move: he swept the bangs from his eyes with one hand and looked Iason full in the face. The Sovereign suddenly realized just how beautiful Megala was.

"He was looking for me, wasn't he Iason?"

"What did you just say?"

"He was looking for a diamond-Sourced Dragon, was he not?"

Iason blinked away his shock, eyelids moving rapidly. The elevator beeped; it had arrived on Megala's floor.

Without looking back, Megala stepped out, ordering Iason, "Follow me."

-OOOOOOO-

Yutaku Iman was a Blondie well-known for his reservedness; he shied away from crowds and large parties, enjoyed the silence of his own home, and was hardly seen without a book. He worked long and hard as an administrator at the Elite Academy, teaching several languages and Amoian history to the precise detail. Many students figured him the hardest but best teacher, sort of a love/hate relationship.

His closest friend was his lover Anori Khosi, a Dragon that had been looking for an excuse to escape his boring political life and got it the day he was attacked by some furious Blondies with tattoo on their hands and the smell of an ant. He escaped only because he hired a Dragon hitman with the same ruby Source as he did. The car exploded when he started the engine, and the assassins believed it was him.

Of course, Anori had informed his brother, and they both thought it best that everyone believed he was dead, instead of a comeback and the expectation that he return to his gubernatorial duties, or, more importantly, risk war with Amoi. So, Anori became a wanderer, and liked the life. It was dangerous, full of risks and unneeded tasks he had set for himself. His favorite task was to find rare volumes of literature. At an auction for a collection of Sousiphoid novellas, he met Yutaku, who was on vacation. The bid came down between the traveler and the Blondie, ending when Anori let Yutaku win.

Afterward, they confronted each other, hitting it off quickly. They enjoyed one another's company for the rest of Yutaku's days off.

While his brother can spring to anyplace he's ever seen, Anori could spring to any person, and his first Spring into Yutaku's home shocked the Blondie so much he screamed. But the Dragon had come bearing The Stars According to Sousiphoid, a prequel to The Moons. This put him in Yutaku's good graces, as long as he gave warning to his visits from then on.

"You know what Anders told last night me about Voshie's trip down here?" Anori asked into Yutaku's hair, the Blondie reading a book, but he closed it and said, "Yes? What did he say?"

"He said that many different people have followed them each day as they strolled the streets. Odd, isn't it?" Anori yawned.

"Who was following them?"

"From what he could hear, the steps sounded like Elites, but at the same time assassins. and you know what else?"

"What?"

"They follow plenty of your friends. Anders went off into the night and caught seven tracking Eadni alone. Every time one of them leaves their home, they're scampering wherever they are going. They are absolute experts at it, all of them."

"What?" Yutaku got up from nestling against his lover, whose laid-back attitude towards his comments disturbed the Blondie almost as much as the information itself. "Does he know why? Why hasn't he done or said anything about it?"

Anori stretched, yawning again lazily. His bare muscular chest tightened, still a bit sweaty from their earlier lovemaking. "He only noticed their malevolence today, though. They seemed adamant about keeping your friend Megala Chi from ever crossing Voshie's path, using all sorts of methods to sidetrack him. Actually, we had a pretty long talk about it. At first, Anders believed that they were part of Iason's guards until they were close enough that he could hear their conversations."

"What were they saying?" The book was gone and so were the glasses, and the blanket barely covered Yutaku's flaccid penis.

It went without saying that Dragons were the most amorous mammals alive. They even had their own annual mating season, a time of great vulnerability to Alpha Zen's humanoids (They weren't even allowed in Amoi then). It was already that time of year, and Anori was twice illegally, by immigration and season, settled in Yutaku's bed. He had trouble sticking to serious subjects, or any subject not concerned with physical sexual activity.

He grabbed Yutaku's neck down to give him a long, slow kiss. The average Dragon was a 104 degrees internally and emitted strong pheromones two times the strength of any feline humanoid. So, Yutaku, too, couldn't concentrate as well as usual during these times.

"Anori! No! Not now," Yutaku gasped, his lips burning pleasurably. "What were the spying men saying?"

Anori sighed. "That Iason and his group were getting 'too close for comfort'. That it was a matter of time before they 'all got back together'. Knock 'em out while they were still weak. Threatening things like that. They seemed pretty enthusiastic about a Pet gathering tonight.

"Now, let's have sex."

Yutaku, ignoring them, took his chin in one hand, a familiar gesture to Anori. The Dragon impatient for more intimacy knew Yutaku would be thinking for plenty more time. But something in his mind was waking up, the part that said danger was imminent.

-OOOOOOO-

"Aertis Jin! Why are at my home again tonight?" Konami Sung asked, speaking authoritatively but feeling more exasperated than anything.

Here before him stood Aertis Jin, a young man in his third year of apprenticeship who once told his friends in a drunken stupor that he never, ever wanted to work in Amoi if it meant he couldn't get drunk every night. This same Blondie had been the top candidate for various paths of business, including becoming Sovereign. However, he had said he was undecided but catering towards joining the Air Force, Exploration Unit, so that he could see what lied in the Great Forest.

He had been there several times before, mostly on field trips around the edge, one of them almost ending in catastrophe. But the one that mattered was his visit the night before, where he found a sword.

The sword had his name on it, first and last, in Amoian.

"And why do you have that over your shoulder?" Konami inquired more, standing over Aertis and hoping the boy wouldn't stay too long this time around. It was about once to twice a month Aertis visited him, and their relationship had reached a level beyond pure student and teacher but close to friends. Aertis came to him for his problems and his successes, or just to talk and catch up. The administrator always knew what the boy was up to, and, quite frankly, enjoyed his company.

"Sir! I-I found this in the... in the Great Forest."

"Going there again!"

The handsome Blondie stood still, knowing the lecture was to come eventually. Might as well get it over with, he thought.

"It has your name on it," was the surprised continuation. Konami took the sword.

"Do you know how old it is?"

"This type of metal you would need to engrave while it is still hot. And how old it is isn't the question." Konami turned the sword in his hand. "This is an Aristian battle sword..." he whispered.

"Why do you think my name is on it?"

Konami looked at his ward, frowning, but unable to find any indication that Aertis knew what the sword was all about. The Headmaster had no idea either.

"I'm confiscating this, Aertis."

"You are?"

"I am."

"But," the young Blondie murmured, "it's mine."

"You can't walk around with this thing, Aertis, especially with your name on it. Any other person would think you had gone on some unauthorized trip to Aristia and bought this, but I know... I know you wouldn't do that. Would you?" Konami narrowed his eyes.

Aertis looked down at the ground, unable to hide the truth. "I've been there a few times... without permission.. Actually, several times with friends... Dozens... Of times, but never for this sword!"

"Dozens? Why, Aertis?"

"To party," was the tiny answer coming from the very pits of fear in Aertis.

"Aertis," Konami said disappointingly. Then he started. "How?"

"Illegal mirrors." This was a tiny, tiny whisper.

"Aertis! Do you have any idea what could happen to you if anyone ever found out about those mirrors?" Aertis was having a fun time looking at his toes so Konami grabbed him by the shoulders. "I want you to dispose of these mirrors immediately! As soon as you get back to Lord Handel, this very night, get rid of them! What makes you think Jupiter wants you leaving and coming when- How do the mirrors work against the Grid?"

Aertis sighed loudly, rubbing his neck nervously, his innocent blue eyes working against Konami's hard anger like a mallet.

It was times like this, usually when admonishing the young man, ironically, that he felt the unfamiliar stirrings in his heart. He knew what they were, and he ignored them or drowned the feeling in a regular Pet. Now, that was starting to get old and wasn't an option when Aertis stood before him in all his honest, but by no means cleanhanded, glory.

Aertis, however, was one confused little cookie. Every time he planned his visits to his favorite senior Elite, he would wear concealing robes or tunics. An erection appeared whenever he got close to Konami, like now. He liked his cologne, he liked his face, he liked the way he talked even when he was lecturing him. He had written these things down in his journal and told his friends. They said he had his heart in the wrong place, whatever that meant.

"If you hadn't always worn your feelings on your sleeve, I would not believe that you didn't know about this sword for a long time. Like I said, I'm taking this- the year!" He examined the bottom of the hilt.

Aertis jumped. "What about the year?"

"It's dated a little over two hundred years ago. How did you find this, Aertis?"

"I found it in a box in the ground." _Just don't ask how we hack the Grid to let the mirrors work._

"How did you find the box?"

Aertis bit his lip, dipping his head sheepishly.

"Stop that. It's unbecoming of an Elite."

"I felt it, Headmaster."

"Felt it?"

"It was, like, a tug, you know?"

"No, I don't know."

"It's how I feel when I'm around you. Like we belong with each other."

Konami turned to stone, something in his body turning hot as a burning skillet. He knew the boy didn't think he had said anything out of the ordinary, he was completely oblivious.

"Extraordinary," was all he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Yes, Sir, it is."

"You hack the Grid, don't you? You and your friends- to get in and out?"

Heart in his throat, Aertis answered, "Yes, sir."

"I should beat you senseless, but you're too old for that, now are you? I should file you instead."

Aertis grabbed Konami by the elbows, crying out, "You wouldn't do that would you, Headmaster?"

"I'm no longer your Headmaster, Aertis. You are a man, now, you should know the consequences of your actions, and filing is one of them, you know that!"

"But they might tamper with my mind or dispose of me and my friends!"

"As Jupiter will see fit! You should know better than to participate in such troubling matters, Aertis."

"Don't you care about me?"

Konami didn't answer this, knowing in his heart that he cared very deeply for Aertis Jin.

-OOOOOOO-

"Happy Birthday, Riki!" Ima exclaimed in their corner of VIP. Tonight Arcadia was particularly full of Alphazenian guards, currently off-duty and enjoying the Pets aplenty. VIP was blocked off from all the excitement so that the Pet and Furniture crew could enjoy some good privacy.

"What? What the hell's the mirror for?" Riki's cigarette hung precariously in the air, poisoning his nearby hair.

"I just said Happy Birthday." Ima pouted.

Riki took a puff, raising an eyebrow. "Whatever," he said. "What is it?"

"Something that can take off your Pet ring any time you wanted to."

"What?" The cig was snuffed out in a nearby ashtray. Everyone else had gone out to dance or sing in the main ballroom, and Riki and Ima were spending a rare moment to themselves. "You a lie. How did you do that?"

"To make a long story short, Sarius and me hacked a hoverboard to show us the DNA of all the Elites and Blondies wired to their Pets and Furniture. I got lucky finding Iason's hairs on you or getting samples from his wine, then I took the samples and found his DNA structure. Of course, he now has two Pets and a Furniture, so I took samples from all three of you to figure out which one was yours.

I then examined the motherboard structures of some Pet and Furniture rings Master had, and managed a copy of yours and Iason's. I practiced on a copy of mine and Sarius- going through the same procedure- and it worked without our Master knowing! Anyway, I got it to turn off and back on. So unless Lord Iason checks that shit daily, which I'm sure he doesn't, you can leave whenever."

"Long story short, my ass," was what Riki said at first, but his eyes shone with the vibrant energy Ima thought he might have lost.

"You're always talking about going back, and not fitting in, in here, so I thought, whenever you're ready, you could just leave."

"How long did this take? Didn't you have to use Heiku's equipment?"

"It took about half a year or so, not as long as it would have been without Sarius. Probably wouldn't have happened at all."

"Why would Sarius help me?"

"He has a secret himself: He's a fighter, like Juthian, but in another ring in Troy. He uses a mirror to go back and forth between here and there."

"But wouldn't this get traced back to you somewhere?"

"Not if you wash my fingerprints off," Ima replied, handing over the simple-looking mirror. "The password is Black Horse, and there's a button you press, big and red, to set yourself free. You'll be able to take off the ring and it won't hook off your dick. The ring can reactivate. I advise you to do all this outside, since without that form of identification, you cannot exit any buildings, and that would sort of defeat the purpose."

"Why would I reactivate it?"

"Set a dummy trail. If you time it right, you could leave them weeks behind- who knows, they might think you've been kidnapped, castrated and taken off with. They'll probably wait for a ransom too."

Riki, slowly getting heated over the possibility of freedom, grinned and then hugged the life out of Ima. "Thanks a lot, Ima. I really don't know how to repay you. It'll be crazy insane if- no, when I leave. Iason would be... would be... would be..."

"Yea, I get it," Ima finished for him. "I just hate seeing you miserable, even if it means not seeing you at all."

"Come with me!"

"No, I like it here, Riki."

The simple answer set Riki thinking how hard this would be on Iason when he leaves, and how was he supposed to re-enter mongrel life after posh Pet living? But he was definitely going to cross that bridge when he came up to it.

That was definitely sooner than he would think. The No-Smell Blondies were thinking to make their move tonight, just when the party died down. The guards would be going to bed early for they were to leave the next morning. Lusa and Reginald were already dead in the bathroom, and the Elites were just waiting for Yui to come check on them.


	13. Pushing the Limits

AN: I decided to release two chapters. Review Please.

Chapter 11 of... Pushing the Limits

Of all the things Iason expected Megala Chi to keep in his house, the diary of Voshka Khosi was not one of them. Megala had said he found the mirror while building a house for a Senate member in Alpha Zen. Its glint caught his eye and he had dug it up after work. He had said, "How curious!" and the mirror's recorded video began to play. A peculiar monologue by a very young Voshka Khosi started playing. For both Iason and Megala, who has watched the Dimensions hundreds of times, the contents of the rest of the diary was extraordinary, and even that was an understatement. Iason needed a glass of wine to calm his nerves.

"How many other people know about this?"

"You and I are the only ones who's ever seen this Dim."

"Good." As Meg was bringing him his wine, Iason asked. "Where is your Furniture? Your Pet?"

"I sold them some time ago... I've been... I've been thinking of him-" They both knew to whom 'him' referred.

"I see. Well, quite a bit of us who had a part in this Dimension are in my penthouse. I think it is a fine time to tell them."

Megala covered his heart in shock. "But Vosh! I can't, I can't tell him now." I'm not ready!"

"He's gone to the tree on Karkaza's mountain."

"Oh, the tree. That's good. I guess, then, we can tell the others, but are you sure they can keep a secret. Is Nico there?"

"Nico can keep it a secret if he knows Aether will be negatively affected, as we can see by the Dim. I'm sure the contents will keep his loose mouth shut." Iason could hope, couldn't he? "Shall we go then?"

"O-Ok," Megala reluctantly agreed, nervous that Voshka would have come back early from their tree, having changed his mind. And then they would have to confront him face-to-face, and Megala knew he wouldn't be able to get that lucky break again.

No one saw them.

-OOOOOOO-

Unfortunately for Anori Khosi and Yutaku Iman, they made the mistake of standing in front of the blinds in one of Yutaku's back offices of his apartment. Someone saw them as they talked about Yutaku leaving to inform Iason of the Elite assassins. Anori wondered if it was the right time.

"I don't think this is the sort of affair to keep secret for long. What if they do something to those boys?"

"You mean the Pets and Furniture? Why would they do something like that?"

"Why would they keep Megala away from your brother?"

"I'm just saying," Anori protested, "maybe we are making mountains out of mole hills."

"Better to be safe than sorry, Anori- Dammit, you're in the window!" Yutaku shoved him to the side , shifting both of them out of sight, but it was too late. The man spying through his window, just doing a routine check for a few minutes before leaving on, only by luck caught the Dragon this night. Now he was to wait for back-up and catch both the Blondie and humanoid physically.

He took some preliminary measures by telling a nearby neighbor (coincidentally of his group) to cut up the wiring to the keypad that opened Yutaku's door. And, just in case they got out, he ripped apart the insides of Yutaku's car. Either way, they would be stuck somewhere. At least, that's what he thought.

When the keypad and car were becoming unusable, Anori went from unsure to alarmed. He and Yutaku had slipped back in the Blondie's room, arguing. He heard a strange sound, a crunching nearby; it sounded metallic. He believed someone was trying to hack the door. A thief?

Unlikely.

"I heard something. You stay in here," Anori ordered Yutaku.

"Who in the hell do you think I am? You think that I will just wait on the sidelines? I'm coming with you."

The thought that there was danger for the Blondie made the Dragon gravid with unease. But Yutaku was dead-set on his decision, so Anori shuffled him alongside himself, holding him with an ineluctable hand. On his face was an uncharacteristically taciturn expression. His body glided sinuously along the hallway until he got a good look through the window he was just seen in. From his position, he could see the Non-Smell Blondie talking on a phone. He had a pair of binoculars and was looking down from his balcony across the street. He was pretty far away but Dragons had fantastic eyesight.

A lump appeared in his throat. He had a (true) feeling that his lackadaisical days were endangered.

The two approached the door carefully. Yutaku put in his code to open the door when it wouldn't open automatically for his signature, his earring. The keypad shocked him.

"Oh, fuck. I think one of those following dudes saw us," Anori said, whispering for no apparent reason.

"How do you know that?"

"Well, the guy that is watching us is laughing."

"Watching us?"

Anori pointed out the window to the distant building. Yutaku had somewhat poorer eyesight than the average Blondie, and even with his glasses couldn't quite make out the figure of the man. Anori Sprung away and came back with binoculars. Yutaku took them and adjusted so he could see the rather young Blondie look back at him.

"What's with that tattoo?" Yutaku whispered mostly to himself, scared. He leaned forward. "He's waving." He put the spyware down and looked at Anori. "You should leave." He said this in a way that one would offer wine.

"To let you fend for yourself against these hounds?"

"You're a Solitary Springer. You couldn't do anything."

"I can take down a few of them."

"No. This cannot be a big deal."

And then Anori remembered that he wasn't completely Solitary; like before, he could take small objects like binoculars, or mirrors. He pulled Yutaku away from the window, Sprung, and Sprung back with a pair of warping mirrors. He was smiling.

"They would know we took something like these," Yutaku warned, taking one anyway.

"Oh, well, damn. Can't do much about that, now can we? I'll leave this one at Nico's and turn it on."

"You've seen Nico before?"

"Are you serious? He's one of the most famous faces in Alpha Zen. My first picture of him was when he was taking a dip in one of the Senate's pools, on vacation I think, in the Karkaza Mountains."

"How much did it cost?" Yutaku asked dryly, knowing that it was just Alpha Zen culture to exchange raunchy photographs of just about anything, beautiful Blondies to quite a considerable degree.

"Let's not worry about that," Anori said quickly, Springing away.

Yutaku didn't know what was going on to hold up Anori, but it took some time for him to activate the mirror from the other side. When he did, someone, or some ones, were trying to knock down the door to his apartment. Nervousness set in, and he was having trouble breathing, and he got through the mirror a nanosecond after it was done receiving its signal from Anori's side. There, he smashed the mirror against the floor, a marble kitchen floor. He heard a high-pitched scream.

He saw Tai, hand over his mouth, the other hand balancing a large cake with an expertise that should be applauded in the face of such a sudden surprise.

"What did you do that for, Manny?" Omaki called.

Anori came over concernedly. "Were they following you?"

"Breaking down the door. I guess I panicked."

"Don't worry about that, old friend." Omaki wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "We have a show in for us!"

"A show? About what? Wait, don't pull me! I need to clean my mess."

"Leave that to Juthian."

"Juthian? Xian's old Pet?"

"Xian's old Pet! Where have you been?'

Yutaku was lead with Anori by Omaki to the living quarters, currently filled with plenty of his friends, and friends of these friends, all with anticipating looks for something that inevitably wasn't him. The room was decorated with black and silver streamers, the tables were heavily laden with food and drink and everyone was dressed to impress.

"Manny!" Nico shouted, already having gotten into a bit of wine while waiting for Iason and Voshka. Aether wavered on his feet beside him. Neither could hold their drink very well.

"Over here, over here."

"I see the 'Going Back Home' party is a little late," Yutaku said, seeing that everyone was staring at Anori, as would be expected.

Heedless of everyone's collywobbles, Nico answered, "Completely and totally! Iason's dreadfully late. I wonder what's keeping him?"

"That Elite he's looking for," mumbled Aether. He stared at Anori, as if not quite sure to believe he was there or a hallucination. The Sky Captain looked down into his drink.

"Oh, yes, of course, him," Nico said shakily, gesticulated wildly with each syllable. "Did you see that Dragon, Yutaku, the one with the diamond? Xian says it looks exactly like Megala Chi, the recluse like you, and you know he has those wonderful eyes, it must be true. And don't you dare say there are no absolute truths except there are... no absolute truths."

"Who is this?" Omaki asked, tipping his head at the Khosi brother. The friends and friends of friends- Aki and Suuki, Vaessi Mils, Enil Tapani King, and Kyle Rhys, for example– all watched intently.

Yutaku disappointed them with a curt, "This is the Commander's brother." They waited almost impatiently for more, but he glared them down to feigned disinterest. There was nothing more than the regular kibitz or some small whispers here and there about Anori coming through an illegal mirror with Yutaku, until Iason arrived without the guest of honor, but with Megala Chi. The latter man was very nervous, hiding behind Iason with a fingernail between his teeth.

Iason's serious countenance set the guests on edge. When he told them to find somewhere to sit, even if it meant on the floor, they sat obediently wherever, leaving him his special seat. They stared, befuddled, as he ordered the twin bodyguard brothers to set up a projector quickly.

Askel hooked a mirror to the projector, a mirror he took from the shy, uncertain Megala.. Despite his earlier courageous directing, he was having second thoughts on sharing his discovery, especially with so many people at once. Looking around, he saw several key players of the mirror being projected were missing. Riki's absence alarmed him the most. He was scared of the Wolf and the powers he possessed, even if he wasn't aware of them.

"Is Amon with you, Eadni?" Iason suddenly asked his tall mentor.

"Who's Amon?" someone asked.

And Amon made himself visible. Tai shouted again and a couple others gasped.

"What in the world is going on, Iason?" Raoul demanded, shooting up from his seat, but he did not move at all, not near the huge, mutant mongrel that just appeared out of nowhere.

Iason, without looking at him, told Raoul, "Sit down. There's no reason to be alarmed. The recording will make it clear." He turned to the audience.

"I will make this absolutely clear, especially to you Sarius and Ru-" The two Furniture were known to be complete gossips. "-that this information is dangerous and should be kept, with utmost secretiveness, absolutely confidential. From everyone that is not in this room, even those concerned in the video. And, above all, from Jupiter."

"Then we shouldn't look at it," Raoul said. "If it comes to keeping secrets from Jupiter no one should want any part in it."

Iason let his gaze scan everyone in the room, from Eadni, to Raoul, to Tai, and he said with sincerity, "Any of have the freedom to leave this very second, but make no mistake, if I find out that you spread a single syllable about this meeting, which has come earlier than I expected, I will find _you _and dispose of your very existence."

"You will kill us?" Omaki asked, surprised.

"Some of you. The rest I'll have your brain tampered with," Iason answered coldly.

"Jupiter's sake, Iason."

"Believe me, after you see this, you won't vie for anything for Jupiter's sake." Iason's face was stony. "Does anyone want to leave with the warning?"

"What's on the recording?" Xian asked, torn between Megala's anxious look and Iason's stone face. "What _is_ the recording?"

"This is Voshka Khosi's diary, and the reason why _they_ don't want you with Juthian," came the straightforward answer.

So Xian stayed, and so did everyone else.

-OOOOOOO-

Juthian had an electronic phone. He used that phone to text various people, including the boys and girls from the fighting ring, his old friend Toma and his friends Sarius and Ru, and Xian Sami. The poor Blondie had been lonely so long that he overrode the long-time taboo of being too attached to... anyone, really. They haven't seen each other in a while, but the phones made it seem like they were right next to each other every second of the day.

The phones had cameras and large screens so that they could see one another, and neither ever thought of switching to the Spirit-absorbing mirrors. Phones were so out of fashion that they were the only reason the No-Smell Blondies never noticed their closeness. They didn't see each other much the few weeks Juthian stayed with Iason, just twice of that night and the night Juthian went to fight, but it was enough.

Today's discussion was cut short when they met in Iason's lobby, and then Juthian left with Riki and Enyu to meet the others at Arcadia. They were ordered by Iason, because of the heightened security, to go to the club entirely by limo, and only when Katze arrived in the Eos Tower to drive.

He had noticed Regiland and Lusa were nowhere to be found long after the two's blood curdled, and the No-Smell Blondies, the main antagonists of the recording, were relaxed after Yui's no-show, thinking no one was to come for some time.

Juthian was just about to check on the two dead Pets before Yui appraised him holding a familiar gadget. He said he was given it by a man who said, "You're going to need this." It looked like a simple handle with what could be a magnet at the end. As soon as he saw it, he gathered the group of friends from various parts of the dance hall, collecting all but Xian's and Raoul's Pets, whom he had forgotten all about. He gathered everyone in VIP and showed them the gadget.

"What's that?" Daryl asked, holding the device in his hand.

"If I tell you, all of you have to promise not to tell anyone else, especially you Enyu. Don't tell Iason." Juthian looked much like Iason when he threatened them all: "I have very good friends who will find you."

"Woah, why so serious all of a sudden?" Katze said, "We're supposed to be having fun." He already knew what the gadget was.

"Well, there's nothing fun about- Look, ya'll all know how I used to look, right?"

"I still can't believe how much you changed," Ima added, having seen a picture Juthian had showed them all.

Juthian scratched his head, albeit anxious. "You should know that it wasn't all working-out and make-up, right?"

"Where's Regliand?" Yui interrupted.

When there was a half-assed look around by everyone, Riki said, "Who cares? They probably can't keep a secret to save their lives."

"And I can," Enyu told them, eyes serious enough. "I already know what you're about to say, _Ju_."

"What am I about to say, _Enyu_?" Juthian shot back.

"That that thing is a Anti-Barring tool, used to remove Bars, which were obviously in you to hide your more... muscular attributes."

Juthian raised his hands, defeated.

"You have Bars in you?" Yui cried.

"Please don't tell, Yui," begged Juthian. "I thought I can trust you."

Yui shook his head, utterly flabbergasted. "No, no, it is just that... Master has Bars, too!"

There was a collective "What?" throughout the small room. They sat around a low table on various colored couches and chairs. Most had a sheen of sweat on their skin from dancing and singing on the party floor. The impromptu meeting was the last thing that would cross their minds to happen that night, not one over illegal Anti-Barring tools. A tool that was needed for things already banned in Amoi was something twice prosecutable, something no Pets nor Furniture (or ex-Furniture) wanted on their hands.

Yui realized that perhaps his Master wanted to keep the Bar thing a secret and quickly shut his mouth, covering it like a kid who had just said a bad word.

"Wait, wait, so what does he look like without the Bars?" Enyu goaded, poking Yui in the ribs.

"He doesn't want to tell," Ima chided. "Let him be. We shouldn't even be talking about this." The talking threatened her sanctity within Amoi. And that haven she had created was something she never wanted to go away, not until she needed to leave.

"We can't just sweep this shit under a rug! A Blondie has Bars in him, do you know what that means?" Riki asked excitedly.

"That a Blondie has Bars in him."

"That if you tell, I'll be very upset?" Yui offered, frowning.

"What does it mean, Riki?" Katze finally asked, lighting a smoke with wavering fingers.

Riki quickly told them about the following Blondies, disregarding Iason's warning completely. Anyway, the only ones who didn't know were Yui and Enyu. He then added, "Maybe that's why they are following us, and them."

"But then _we_ would have to possess Bars, Riki," Ima ameliorated. "And none of us knows about any Bars."

"Master hadn't either," Yui said, nodding.

"You believe that?"

"He couldn't be a Blondie if anyone knew."

"Well, someone knows."

Riki reiterated, "They know." He took the Anti-Bar, inquiring, "So how does this thing work?"

"Just press it to the skin, and if there is a Bar there, it will be siphoned out the skin to the handle," Juthian instructed. "It will make a buzzing noise when it does its thing."

"No one has Bars here!" Ima screamed, taking the device from Riki's hand. "And if there was, what are we going to do about it? And what if the Bars are the kind you can't put back and those No-Smell guys try to do something funny because we look like we had cosmetic surgery!"

The others stared at her, at a loss for words.

"Why are you so against this, Ima? Do you have Bars?" Enyu asked softly from across the table. "No one here will tell."

"Master Heiku will hate me when he finds out."

"Finds out what?"

"That I'm really a mongrel! A filthy disgusting mongrel with two tails and Jupiter knows what else." Ima went further to explain, " When I was putting in the Bars to hide me ears and tail, I found other Bars, other Bars I didn't know about, I still don't. I never removed them because it would be just more work to cover up, you know? I mean, Yui, how does Lord Am look without his Bars?"

"He's some sort of blue tiger humanoid."

"He's a feline?" Enyu gasped, pupils dilating in excitement. "That huge Blondie... He must be... His size... His _smell_." Enyu's tail flipped as his imagination ran wild.

Yui would talk more, but he didn't want everyone to know exactly what went on in the Am household, and he definitely desired not to explain the latest sexual exploits his Master made him go through.

"Anyway," Ima continued. "That's exactly the sort of thing that I don't want to uncover! It will do no good, anyhow. Let's just get rid of the thing, please?"

Riki, though adamant before, now contemplated his actions, something he was prone to do nowadays. He spoke softly, "We deserve to know, Ima. And if you don't want to know, and if you don't want to see, then you can just leave."

Ima stared icily into Riki's black eyes, before turning away, muttering, "Whatever."

"Anyone else?"

No one said anything, and Katze's Bars were removed.


	14. Another Close Encounter Voshka's Diary

Author's Note: Basically two chapters in one. I hope you find it most interesting and exciting. I basically hated using everyone and everybody and anyone so much, but that's what happens when there are so many people in one place, huh?

Chapter 12 of... Another Close Encounter and Voshka's Diary

"You're a feline, like me. A gorgeous feline!" Enyu yelled, getting up on all fours as the Anti-Bar passed over the rest of Katze's body. They slipped painlessly from his flesh- almost transparent gold, silver, and bronze Bars. The other six's eyes got bigger and bigger as he morphed more and more with each fall of nearly see-through Bars.

Katze's cigarette fell from his hand onto the table. When Riki was done removing all the Bars, he picked up the cig and tapped away the stick of ash that trailed along the end.

"You didn't know these were here?" Riki asked. He glanced around him; there had to be at least twenty tiny Bars and ten bigger ones lying around. "So many..."

"Nope. Didn't know." Katze's voice was quiet, shocked. There were mirrors, the regular kind, hung up all over the room. They showed his simple red-furred Cat self, eyes the color of amber, yet elliptical, changing sizes as he looked at himself. For a while, he just let the shock sink in and then the fear began to pile over it. He felt heavy.

"We can't put all of these back in," Riki said, snatching the words right out of his mouth.

"The Blondies can." Ima bit her nail with her words before picking up the Bars, putting them in her purse. The Bars slipped between her fingers as they were clammy. She didn't like this. Not one bit.

But Riki only got more excited. "You're telling your Master? He will tell everyone." Everyone as in Iason's circle of friends.

"Well, it's not like Katze can keep himself a secret for long. Anyway, like you touched on, this really involves everyone who is being followed by the no-smells."

-OOOOOOO-

Just as Iason was about to play the diary on the projector, he was hit with another horrible feeling. It was much worse than the almost not-quite-chance meetings between Voshka and Megala. Something in him said it wasn't the projector, or anything in the room. Somewhere far away, someone was in trouble, or going to be. And he needed to see, and he needed to see now.

His first thoughts turned to Riki, and the blow to his stomach made him make a slight retching sound.

"Are you alright, Iason?" Megala put a hand on his shoulder, saying again, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Iason turned to Omaki. "You own Arcadia, correct?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Can you stream the camera footage there to this projector?"

Omaki smiled. "That's quite a specialty of mine; I can do that for you in just a few minutes."

"Thank you."

Iason waved his hand, and Tai hurried to give him a glass of wine. At the moment, Iason was extremely glad Juthian was with Riki. Whatever it was that could possibly trouble them could be handled by him and Katze. Couldn't it?

Omaki was finished soon and turned on the projector himself. With a handheld mirror, he switched through the different camera angles until they could all see the Pets and Furniture in VIP. It took some time before...

"Your Katze! Iason, look at Katze!" Xian cried, his golden eyes shining vibrantly.

Everyone, not only Iason, looked at Katze, his ears, his tail, and the way his cigarette shook in his hand.

Ima was saying, "Anyway, like you touched on, this really involves everyone who is being followed by the no-smells."

"No-smells?" Yutaku wondered aloud.

"Those Blondies that were after us," Anori was the one to answer.

"Does everyone know about them?"

"I didn't," Odi muttered, realizing this was probably the big secret Riki was holding some time back. Why hadn't he been told was understandable; why he didn't notice this himself was a serious problem.

"Or me!" Omaki cried. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" He saw the faces of his friend, all who knew and gave him guilty glances.

"We didn't want you to worry, Omi," Xian said.

Xian's golden puppy-eyed look, begging for forgiveness, it seemed, wiped Omaki's sour look away. Their attention went back to the projector, an expensive project Iason rarely used for gatherings and parties only when the time called for it.

-OOOOOOO-

"Fine..." Riki said uncertainly, and then, impulsively, he dragged the Anti-Bar over his own skin. The Bars went through his clothes, large golden Bars. Several plated Bars in the shape of his limbs and skull fell heavily to the floor and sofa cushions, landing with dull thuds from their weight.

Impossibly, his hair had gotten darker than before, or it may have been his eyes whose pupils were indiscernible from his irises, or maybe against his smooth golden skin the eyes and hair were made darker by contrast. He grew half a foot, and because his Spirit suddenly became unstable, all three tails were visible, plus another, and his large ears flickered excitedly atop his head. It messed his hair which had sprouted another inch. Gigantic fangs reached over his lower lips, claws stretched from all his nails, and he busted through his shoes and clothing. The pile of Bars wouldn't ever be able to fit into Ima's purse, even if it was completely empty.

"Holy shit," Yui whispered.

"Holy fucking shit! Look at me!"

"Yes, look at you, Riki!" Ima shouted. Much to Riki's chagrin, she was furious. "You can't go outside like that."

"Stop your worrying. We are close to the back door. Let's remove everybody else's Bars and get the hell out of here!" However, Riki had no intention whatsoever to go back to Iason, not when he looked as badass as this. When he get back to Bison, won't no one mess with him. Hell, an uppity part of him believed that he could take on Amon for a while in this form.

"What makes you think we have Bars?" Enyu asked. When Riki set his eyes on him, his body practically melted. He didn't dare look at Cat-humanoid Katze, or else he might faint. He was so horny he could fuck the table and be satisfied, but at the moment he wanted to take Riki until he screamed.

"Come on! Ima has Bars, Katze has Bars, I got Bars... Raoul got Bars! I'm telling you, this is why those no-smells are following us. We _all_ have Bars."

"But... But where did they come from?" Yui asked. "Why don't we know about them?"

"Who knows, maybe we all got them at birth..."

"Why?"

"Hell if I know," Riki said honestly, dour, then went on much more cheerfully, "Here, you try it."

Yui took the device, looking at it thoughtfully, then started spreading it over himself. A large diamond Bar fell out his back, and Ima snatched it up quickly to stare at it in amazement. The other Bars were smaller, and, in the end, he turned out not to be a humanoid, but some strange glowing creature, resplendent. His hair had turned light red and floated strangely around his head.

"Woah," was the collective response.

Slowly, when the last Bar fell from his foot, Yui began to float above the seat.

"Hold him down, Enyu," Riki said.

"I feel strange," Yui whispered. "I feel great!" Enyu pulled him down, then took the Anti-Bar. With one hand, he removed his Bars, as Riki was inevitably right. They all had Bars.

Riki scowled as with each Bar's escape, Enyu reached a new level of beauty, whether in shape of the face or musculature. He was sort of like Juthian, and looked almost nothing like how he did before when the Bars were hidden inside his body.

Juthian passed, saying he had all his Bars removed already, so Daryl was next, then Ima. Both went through the same renovations, taller, more beautiful, stronger. Ima had three tails, and she abnegated herself fretfully.

"This is wrong, all fucking wrong. We shouldn't be doing this at all!" Obviously, she found this totally against the mores of society, though her very existence went against many established customs and could eventually get her killed. But she was not wrong that this pressured her status.

"Well, we already did it."

"The Bars, where should we put them?"Yui asked, still floating a little. But he could feel it now. And could control how high he hovered. He practiced a bit, going up and down, giggling.

"I'm going to buy some bags," Ima offered. "They're selling them here. Wait, give me some of your money, Riki, since this was all your idea."

Riki did, smiling greatly, and knew that Ima looked the most normal out of all of them. She hid her tails and ears expertly, though she had extra and it had been a long time since they were free.

She came back with several bags, really large and expensive carriers, and stuffed the Bars in separate bags, one for each person, not caring about color or style, as long as they had one. "Let's get out of here."

"Wait," Yui called to the group as they began to get up. "I need to go to the bathroom. That is where Regiland and Lusa go every five minutes."

By that time, several more corpses lied atop the two Pets as unfortunate passerby came into the bathroom. The Non-Smells waited patiently. Any time now.

-OOOOOOO-

"I can't believe this," Raoul spoke, voicing many thoughts.

"Well, you better believe it," Omaki said to him. "Because all this is as live as you and me."

"But... But how?"

"I don't think we will know that unless we ask those Blondies." Omaki changed the angle to inside several bathrooms until he came upon the pile of dead bodies and the three Blondies standing guard. "Oh, dear."

Yui made his way around the party, unnoticed by others who had just danced with him moments ago. It was only seconds before he was in the bathroom.

Raoul gasped out Yui's name, his heart stopping.

-OOOOOOO-

Yui tripped over the bodies. Once he noticed what they were, he screamed shrilly, the sound lost in the music. But Yui, with his heightened senses, could hear steps near him and he looked into eyes full of a lust for blood. The grin on the Blondie's face was crazed as he pulled a gun and pulled a trigger.

Yui vanished, an reddish dusty outline of his body was all that was left, then reappeared in another part of the bathroom. The Elites and servants back at Iason's could see him hiding in one of the stalls, holding his chest.

"What the hell! He's not supposed to have any powers! You said they didn't have powers, except that Juthian!" one of the Blondies yelled at the tallest. The tallest had a number seven on his right hand and the other two had tattoos of eight.

"I- I don't know what is going on. Maybe they got their hands on a Anti-Bar."

"Tonight?"

The leader snarled. "They got help from someone. Probably Ayuda... Jupiter never caught him, remember?"

"Can we handle Yui?"

"No, we can't, but we can get lucky. He doesn't know shit."

-OOOOOOO-

"Amon, help the boy! They are going to kill him," Eadni begged. He tugged on Amon's elbow.

"I can't Spring in or out of Eos Tower, Eadni, remember?"

"Me neither," Anori said. "They have this special kind of force-field."

"It's because Jupiter's Chamber is in this building. It has its own Grid," Iason informed them. "And we don't want to send anyone. I feel that if they find out we are watching, they might come after us as well."

"We can't just watch them die!" Eadni was distraught with worry.

"Xian, text Juthian to help Yui."

"They have guns, Iason!" Now, this was Raoul.

"As you can see, Raoul, Yui can dodge bullets. And you just heard them, they can't 'handle' Yui themselves. Three grown Blondies with guns are afraid of Yui, doesn't that tell you anything?"

"Is this about the recording? Are you confident because of what is on that recording?"

"Yes."

The camera angle changed to the VIP room.

-OOOOOOO-

Juthian checked a recent text message, and his face fell. He took off his headdress, rolling it in one hand and making it bigger. Stretching he told the baffled others, "Yui's in trouble. It seems as if there were a couple of no-smells in the bathroom." He added, not very sadly, "Regiland and Lusa are dead."

"I'll come with you," Katze said, getting out his gun.

"All of you come with us but around the other way," Juthian ordered. "Don't want any of ya'll trapped and used as hostages."

They did what they were told, and surrounded the bathroom a bit too late to really help Yui.

Inside the bathroom, the Blondies were knocking down the bathroom doors and finally came upon Yui, who huddled on the toilet seat like a lost child.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" he asked; the tears have already fallen because of his close encounter with death. His throat was then grabbed by the leader.

"We are the Sentinels, of Jupiter's Secret Service. And, not that it matters before long, things have come to a point where we need to kill almost every one of your friends, except dear old Iason." He jabbed the gun's barrel under Yui's chin. "Name's Fred, Yui."

The group was still making their way through the crowd of dancers when Yui slapped Fred as hard as he could. There was a definite crack in his neck. Fred's tongue slapped on his chest after being freed from the confines of his lower jaw. Dropping Yui, his body fell to the ground after his brain banged against his skull several times and killed him.

Blood sprayed Yui's clothes while the other two Blondies watched in shock as their leader died from a single hit from such a tiny creature as the radiant Yui, who floated above them, then disappeared.

"We need to call for backup no-" The Blondie didn't finish as a bullet passed through an eye and exploded behind his head and into a wall.

Juthian took care of the other one with a vicious swipe of his ringblade, sliding it through his stomach and letting his innards fall to the floor and on Fred's dead feet. He passed the blade through his throat, just to be thorough.

"That's all of them... We need to get the hell out of here, now."

Yui appeared behind them, eyes wide and face pale.

They wasted no time getting out the back doors and escaping into their limo, leaving the dead bodies to fend for themselves against the crowd that eventually amassed around them. But that was long after they left.

-OOOOOOO-

Omaki was calming down the franchisee of Arcadia, telling him not to worry, when the remaining Pets and Furniture arrived. The Projector was now hooked up to Voshka's diary again. And it was to begin as soon as the boys arrived, no matter what. Iason was adamant about the diary.

One young man was missing.

"Riki? Where is Riki?" Iason questioned. "Where is he?"

Katze looked around, afraid. "He was with us in the limo..." Damn Riki...

"He could have been taken." Iason's voice turned stone cold, seething with anger.

"He escaped," Enyu voiced, frowning.

"How do you know? Why didn't you stop him?"

"I didn't see him escape, but if he is like me, and his Pet ring broke when the Bars came out, then he could have taken his chance to escape."

Iason came over to Enyu, and the feline handed over his broken ring. The Sovereign stared at it for a while, then made a strong grunt as rage flooded his veins. Without the ring, Iason had no way of tracking the mongrel, and Riki could be anywhere by now, probably in Ceres. But, he thought... Fine, Riki could stay there. Iason will find him, anytime. Katze could get him within the week, but he will let the boy find out how foolish his escape was. Did he really think that his absence will go unnoticed and, what's more, that his stay with Iason hadn't changed him for good? He can never go back to being a regular mongrel.

Iason threw the piece in a trash and went to find another one, placing it on Enyu's penis in front of everyone. He led him to his seat and onto his lap. He took out a private mirror and froze Riki's accounts, except the one that could only be used in the Tanagura-Ceres-Midas prefecture.

"You're not going to set up an alarm to find him?" Raoul asked, quietly, trying not to sound demanding. The curly-headed Blondie set Yui on his lap, atop a developing erection. He pressed his hand into his thigh and felt a penis. Yui's penis.

"No." The answer was curt. "Play the mirror."

Without further ado, and with the totally weird vibe in the air, Voshka's diary was played:

"Alright, alright I got one," said a young Voshka to the mirror. He grinned widely, and, with Spirit magic Juthian uses to make his ringblade float, he made the mirror hover around him. He was sitting on a doubledecker bus, and traveling with him, from what they could see, were Nico and Aether, Juthian with an arm around Xian, Yutaku and Anori reading a book together as they sat, and Megala, holding his hand. As the mirror traveled around, they saw Riki, Iason, Heiku, Ima, Amon, Omaki, Enyu and various others, including Yousi Xuuju, who waved at the mirror.

Heiku of the audience widened his eyes at this. Thirteen years his friend was dead, and now he was sitting cramped on a seat between him and Ima.

"When is this?" he inquired of no one in particular.

Voshka on the screen told the year, fifty-eight years before most of the Blondies thought they were born.

"This kind of mirror does only about a week, right?" Riki asked from the seat in front of Voshka and Meg. Iason sat next to him, texting away on a fancy cellular phone.

"Yep, only a week. Well, this is just right because we are staying at Lori's-"

And everyone on the bus, the mirror catching them all from the front, next to the driver Amon, finished, "Extreme Spring Playground!"

"Set," Voshka announced, "just outside Aristia's Fist of Armah Nature Resort-"

Tai cried, "Lori's Playground! How wonderful!"

Tai on the bus yelled, "Praise Armah!"

Voshka continued, grinning, "This place is beyond amazing with an endless list of festivities and going-ons. Enjoy the people, the weather, and the food- an amusement park and theater- five star hotels leading to the very heavens, Lori's Playground has everything!

"It took two years and a lot of work to get us all here, but, here we are, thank Ignis and Igna of the Great Flames! Let's get this mirror on the second deck, shall we?"

The mirror followed him up the stairs. Up there were Eadni with his arms wrapped around the very young Suuki and Aki, no more than twenty years old, at least three in regular human years, but it was obvious they weren't human. Aki was a Dragon, and Suuki had translucent wings. He was a fairy, a cousin of the elves, and thought to be extinct. Eadni had five light-brown tails fanned out on the chair. Behind them was an opal-Sourced Aertis and a tall Konami Sung. Every now and then a shock of lightning traveled through his skin. Palo Corrocuni sat by himself listening to music, and he sat in front of Vaessi Mils sandwiched between Kyle and Enil, whom he was kissing passionately. There was Tai and Odi, Ru and this other young man sat with Sarius, obviously also a threesome, and Toma, laughing gayly, leaning over from his seat beside them. The unknown boy was telling something very funny. Raoul and Yui sat in the very back, kissing; next to them, standing, were Askel, Freyn, Daryl and Katze, talking.

To the audience's great surprise, Freyn, Omaki, Kyle, Ru, and Nico were all female, as they all wore bathing suits leaving very little and a bit less to the imagination.

"And we're here!" Amon called, parking the bus. "Let's all get off in an order-" And he was trampled on by the excited boys- and girls- running out of the bus. The mirror wavered over Voshka's head. "You little bastards. LINE!"

On cue, and not without a few mumbles, the young band made a line. Amon stood before them, towering over them like a giant; in effect, he really was. Eadni came out last, carrying Suuki and Aki's small bodies. He stood next to Amon smiling.

"Everyone remember, we meet back here at the bus for lunch at three. You forget, you don't eat. Now go on, you little weenies."

The group scattered. The mirror went with Raoul, Yui, Iason, Riki, Megala and Voshka. They all had on swimwear, just trunks and a shirt, except for Riki and Voshka, who were topless. Iason only wore an open jacket showing off his broad chest.

They palavered incessantly about friends that weren't there and what to do until three. A clock tower had the time at ten before midday, the sun shining brightly behind the face. It was a wonderfully sunny day with only two or three clouds in the sky. People in their swimsuits stopped by to say hi with gleeful dispositions. They took their numbers and gave advice on where go or which direction the amusement park was.

Like most, they went to the amusement park.

"Let's ride that one," Riki shouted, his black eyes were shining in the bright sunlight. Heads turned to see the gorgeous mongrel walk through the streets with other eye-catching beings. Some were simply amazed that so many beautiful people were together in one place.

The ride he pointed out was a three hundred foot high roller coaster, red and looming above them.

"No," Iason said immediately. "You can ride that... monster, but I won't."

"Me either," Meg agreed.

"The line is pretty long, Riki," Yui voiced.

Raoul nodded. "Let's get some other rides in before waiting hours for ones like these."

Sourly, Riki kicked the air. "Fine," he muttered.

They went on to ride several less intense rides, though a couple made them hold their breath, especially the The Fall, a straight two-hundred foot drop in the air at fifty-five miles per hour. That was the last ride they took before it was time for lunch.

"That was disgusting." Iason held his stomach as he told them this. The ride looked innocent enough, just a simple fall, but, no, it had to be so fast!

"That ride was fucking awesome! I can't believe you didn't like it." A pause. "Aw, shit. Hide, hide!" Riki shouted to the others, pushing them behind a Jolly Lolly stand that sold gigantic lollipops. The colorful circles hid their faces from the Sentinels roaming down the walkway. There was only two of them, and they seemed only to be on vacation, laughing about something or other. They were young, the lowest rank at level ten.

"Why in the hell are they even here?" Riki barked, not literally, though he did look the part.

"Same reason we are?" Iason answered sarcastically.

Voshka started in the opposite direction. "Let's get going- and tell the others."

They went their way, merriness sort of obliterated like a popped balloon. When they shared the news with the others, Eadni sighed.

"Should we leave?" he asked Amon, who now held an ecstatic Aki and Suuki in his arms. The boys screamed, "Thwagon Wide! Thwagon Wide!" Apparently, they enjoyed the Dragon kiddie ride immensely.

"Nah, they won't make a show here in public."

"What if they do?"

"They won't!"

"They could, and then they would involve these innocent bystanders."

"They _won't, _Eadni. And these are Aristian people, they know a little thing or two about fighting, or did you forget Juthian and them?"

"It's our responsibility-"

"Why the fuck did you ask me if you had your own damn opinion?"

Eadni turned away angrily.

"Hey... Oh, hey, baby, baby, sorry."

"Fuck!" Aki yelled, and Suuki joined him, yelling the word much to the amusement of the older boys and girl.

"Stop!" Amon yelled, and then offered, "Let's just take a vote. All who want to stay raise their hand."

A few raised their hand- Raoul, Omaki, and Juthian among them, but not enough to be the majority. However, they still ate lunch.

Eadni looked pleased, but his expression slowly soured as disappointed faces passed him as he handed out what little money they had, most having gone to this much-needed vacation.

When everyone was eating in total silence, Eadni finally said, "Another three hours shouldn't hurt. Just be careful."

"You sure?" Amon put an arm around his lover.

"Yes."

Now the adolescents began to eat with fervor, scarfing down their various meals before running off to wait for the long rides.

For one, Riki still wanted to ride the highest roller coaster there (Devils' Heights), and he persuaded the old gang to ride with him. Even Iason agreed, after Riki promised whispered dirty promises in his ear. The wait took two hours, through which Iason of the audience skipped forward.

"Alright! We're here!" Riki exclaimed, having lost none of his enthusiasm.

"Finally," Raoul grumbled. Twice he tried to get out of the line to ride something that didn't age him in the wait. Only Yui could convince him to stay. Always he called him Master and gave him smooth, sweet kisses.

"Come on, Master," he told Raoul, giving him another kiss.

"Yea, yea."

The mirror followed them as the carts went all the way to the peak of the Devils' Heights. Iason had his eyes closed by then while he bit his lip. Riki was trying to convince him to open them, though his observations of, "Shit! We're high!" didn't help matters at all. Iason rode the entire three minutes and twenty-two seconds with his eyes closed, while Riki screamed beside him.

He who was watching the mirror fast-forwarded through several carnival games where Raoul won contests against other humanoids, giving Yui quite a few stuffed animals.

Riki held a panda he won doing the bottle game, where one had to knock down a pyramid of bottles with a single ball, when he said he needed to use the bathroom. This is where Iason played the mirror normally.

Like the posse they were, the rest of them followed him to just outside the entrance.

Iason suddenly grimaced in the middle of a text and called out, "Riki? Are you alright?"

"Define alright!" Riki shouted back.

It took Iason a quick second to launch himself inside the bathroom, materializing a sword from bluish dusty Spirit. He tried to attack the level eight Sentinel pinning Riki down with a knife to his throat, but the Blondie dodged quickly out of the way. He pulled out an activated mirror and slid through.

Megala, a gorgeous Megala looking quite a few years younger than the one in Commander Voshka's mirror, immediately called Amon, telling him the Sentinels were definitely battle-ready. He and the others were ordered to meet up at the bus.

In half an hour, everyone was accounted for, from bluish-gray-headed Raoul to the light pink hair of Omaki, and they left Lori's Extreme Spring Playground.

In there, they all went through a mirror, leaving the bus behind.

They were in a room, merely a floor with four walls and a roof with a stage, but big enough to hold them all. They lied around disagreeably, Aki and Suuki squawking about the Dragon Ride, which they had ridden several times but couldn't forget.

After a few minutes, Anori stood. Everyone else watched him stand. "This sucks, guys. I say we give them a few punches for ruining our vacation. If you don't wanna go, I understand."

"I'm going!" Riki jumped to his feet from laying on his back. He stretched, smiling. Beside him, Iason stood, whipping out his sword in the same flashy fashion as before.

Omaki, as aforementioned one of the few in a female form, wore a robe loosely around her voluptuous body, a body with many more curves and abundance of breast and thigh muscle than Ima. She stood, speaking in a smooth voice, " I feel like kicking ass."

Raoul, Katze, and Juthian went along as well; Voshka said he was only recording the event with his mirror. The rest stayed but didn't bother to attempt to keep the others, as if this was an everyday occurrence.

So the fighting group went back through the mirrors, and there were the Sentinels waiting for them, standing outside the bus.

Anori put the deactivated mirror into his pocket, stretching his fingers out then clenching them.

"There's seven of us and eight of you," the highest ranking Sentinel said.

"He's just mirroring," Anori spat, jerking a thumb to his brother. "You're the highest? You're only a level seven."

"I'm about to upgrade."

"Excuse me, a level seven going on six. Congratulations."

"Let's stop the chitchat, shall we? I'm Andy."

"Sure, and I'm Anori."

And the fight commenced, Andy going after Anori first, and the others paired up accordingly.

"And here we thought we could have a good vacation," Andy gasped, smiling bonhomie-like.

Anori said, "Likewise," and then tripped Andy with his right leg, hooking his left. When he was down on the ground, Anori ripped out his throat, letting it bleed out like a flood. A comical smile was on Anori's face as the blood had covered his lips.

With his fight done the mirror went to Iason and his level six opponent, but it was done in the next few seconds as the man left himself open. Iason decapitated him.

Omaki snapped his person's neck, but not until the Blondie had the chance to shoot him twice in the same thigh. Like Yui had done, he floated about a foot above the ground, a red river running down his leg and dripping onto the ground.

Riki's level eight was gutted like a pig; he gasped lowly, breathed shallowly until he was dead. Raoul got a good punch in and knocked his man out cold. Raoul then stepped hard on his chest. He coughed up crimson, then died.

Katze was battling another level six, with difficulty, but when the Blondie put him in a headlock, Katze took out a Spirited gun and blew his brains out, particles of Spirit busting through the air.

Juthian was playing around in his fight, flipping over the level nine with ease, slicing bits and pieces of him off with his ringblade until the young Blondie cried, "Mercy! Please let me go!"

"Oh, we all know that as soon as I turn around you're gonna try to throw a knife at me or some other such cliché thing."

"I promise I won't," the Blondie said, going to his knees as he lost more and more of his blood through the long cuts in his body.

"You'll just have to fight me again. And I'd rather not fight you when you're a level two or one, or S."

"Please." His blue eyes began to cloud over.

Juthian rolled his own eyes. "Fine, then." And he turned around.

But true to his word the Sentinel escaped through warp and not coming with back-up or anything.

"Woopsies. I might live to regret that." Juthian muttered, having truly believed the Sentinel would attack him again.

"Why would Jupiter send such low-level guys when she knows we can handle level ones?" Katze questioned, checking the hand of one of the dead men.

Iason answered him: "They were probably sent here to die."

"Die?" Katze followed him onto the bus.

"They've done it before. Sent off their wounded to us and we had no choice but to recruit or kill the ones who desired not to join. Remember?"

"I remember. That's fucked up."

"Jupiter's fucked up." Riki said vehemently. "It's going on seventy years she's been trying to kill us."

"Or capture Iason," Raoul mumbled, coming up in the rear through the mirror.

Amon asked, "How was it? I see you gots hardly a drop of sweat."

"It was a waste of time! They weren't anything but leftovers."

"Don't refer to human beings like that," Eadni reprimanded, Aki and Suuki asleep in his arms.

They settled back on the bus after that, taking a different road and going off to anywhere. The rest of the mirror showed them singing at sideshows and doing tricks at circuses to raise money for food for themselves. Almost each day was dedicated to fighting low-class Sentinels, and once Amon referred to Jupiter as a mother cleaning out the dust bunnies she had collected over the years. There was only one death on their side, a girl named Naila. She died when two level sevens ganged up to shoot her down.

All the while, Voshka gave little tidbits about the group. For example, he explained the Sentinels had a system of Levels, from ten, the lowest, to one, to S. Numbered Sentinels had all their differentiated parts removed through surgery and magic; they were the only true Blondies in Amoi. All other 'Blondies' were kidnapped infants with Bars in them. A special group of Sentinels took care of this task of Barring hundreds of would-be Elites each day.

S Sentinels were like them in the mirror, Blondies without their Bars and allowed to use their powers to the farthest extent, as long as they worked diligently for Jupiter.

What got the most attention was when he (re)told the tale of how they got out of Watch. Evidently, Eadni didn't like how things were running in Watch.

"A filed child would just be killed or taken away to Ignis knows where. So, Eadni got a mirror that a low-class Sentinel, who ran things in Watch, left behind. And he warped him and his batch of kids to Amoi, where he met Amon, Riki, and Ima living together. He came back to get more and more kids before the Sentinels realized what he was doing.

"Then Amon Sprung himself and a mirror to Alpha Zen, where they met me and my brother at an orphanage and stayed there for a few years. Then we got attacked by Sentinels and a lotta kids died and stuff, and basically we picked up a few friends on the way. Katze used to be a slave in Gardan, Daryl's from Gardan, too, Juthian, Toma, Ru, and Sarius are all from Aristia, et cetera. Palo and Konami actually used to be Sentinels, Konami a big ol' S, before they came from the dark side, ya' know? So, yea... Long time, many good times, lotta bad..."

And then the mirror abruptly shut off.

There was a silence in the room. Not one person had failed to be completely astonished by the footage on the mirror.

Xian broke the silence: "What the fuck did I just watch?"


	15. Diversions and the Short Lived Welcome

**AN**: My deepest apologies if I have Luke and Norris mixed up. I pegged Luke as a cute name for the young-looking original member rather than the sunglasses-wearing older-looking member. I did, however, managed to see a picture of Sid while doing my search- my long, long search. I'm open to corrections!

Chapter 13 of... Diversions and the Short-lived Welcome

Iason didn't give any time for discussions. He had another one of those feelings in his gut, and sent his audience away, except for Yutaku and Anori, who he invited to stay in one of the suites in his penthouse. As long as they didn't talk about the mirror, they could stay as long as they needed, and he would keep their presence secret.

Little did Iason know that Ben the Sentinel was doing his best to search for the duo, and would be making rounds in Eos Tower before long. But that wasn't now.

Now, Iason seethed over the fact that Riki had left him. It ate away at him. He had told Katze to find him as soon as possible, and Katze said to him that that wouldn't be a problem, not how Riki looked now. It would be easy-peasy really.

The Blondie took Enyu, in all his pure feline glory, to his bed. The Lion-Panther couldn't believe his luck. He hoped that Riki would never be found if it meant that he and the Master would fuck.

"Take off your clothes," Iason ordered, not entirely there, his mind almost solely focused on Riki and his betrayal. Though, it wasn't that much of a surprise. The boy had said that he would take the chance to leave if it was given to him, even that year.

Enyu shivered at the authoritative command, following it immediately. Spreading his legs invitingly, he raked his claws over his skin, erection already taut and ready.

Iason took off his own clothes, removing the Anti-Barring tool from a pocket. He had taken it from Yui and fully intended on using it on himself. The Bars that fell from him were all large, and diamond. The strongest and largest that have appeared so far, yet Iason hardly made a physical change.

But Enyu could feel the difference as much as Iason. His body buzzed with an electrifying verve, and they realized in their own special way that Iason was overflowing with Spirit.

When Iason spread his body over Enyu's, the Cat drowned in pleasure. The terribly springy feeling of Iason's Spirit sunk into his pores, mixing with his own Spirit. He shook in the Blondie's arms at the combination that made ecstasy roll under his skin and through every organ in his body.

"Master!" he cried, coming abruptly onto his chest.

His orgasm set off a series of chemical reactions that had him asserting more pheromones into the air, swirling in with the Spirit, making a magical aphrodisiac between the both of them. Iason's cock was beyond containment. He shoved two fingers deep within Enyu's already wet entrance, panting uncharacteristically. Oh, he wanted to share this amazing night with Riki, but a night like this wasn't going to happen until he calmed down. Until he felt that he wouldn't beat Riki senseless if he saw him again.

Enyu was in heaven. All those times of flirting with the Master while letting the love- or whatever one calls that was between Iason and Riki- fester between the two, has now paid off. All he wanted was a good fuck, and he was a patient little kitten. Another finger joined the two already inside, spreading him wide, almost painfully so. His physiology was so that he healed whenever he was hurt, almost instantly, stretching including. It was a bane (or boon, if you were the one doing the taking of someone that always felt like a virgin) for all humanoids. Probably why Riki was always screaming when he was in the bed with the Master.

Or maybe the Master's way of handling things so effortlessly, adding four fingers and thrusting deep inside, jabbing his sensitive prostate relentlessly. Enyu, now urgently needing to come again, rolled his hips on that hand until Iason tore it away.

Enyu mewled pitifully, "Please, back inside, Master. Please put it in."

"Don't worry, little Pet." He lined up his cock. "I'll put it in."

Iason's voice had reached a level of smoothness like nothing Enyu has ever heard; it rang through his head like someone caressing his brain. And then Iason entered him swiftly. That barrier of energy pierced him first, then was absorbed into his moist, fleshy canal.

Enyu screamed as he came; and this time Iason joined him.

The Blondie felt the boy's body suck him from that very special core of his, and he simply lost control. He's never done that before, and he knew that it was all due to the fact that the Bars were gone. He wondered, not with a little anger, that Riki would have been very much magnificent in this instance.

On the Dim, Voshka had explained Riki's powers as 'Spirit sucking'. With the eyes of Black Holes he could zap the energy of anyone until he was just an empty shell ready for the carrion birds to peck at. It was believed that was the reason why he and Iason were so good for each other. As far as anyone knew, Iason Mink had unlimited Spirit. No one was sure what Iason was (or Yui, or Askel, or Freyn) but he was definitely too complicated to be called a mere sorcerer, as were the some.

It felt good to get rid of the excess Spirit, so he poured himself into Enyu. He launched one leg over his shoulder and straddled the other. Then he leaned forward to get as much leverage as he can from the angle, and pounded deep within the recesses of his Pet.

Enyu clawed the bed, the whites of his eyes showing before he clasped them shut. The thick muscles of his body tightened as he came another time, one of many that night as Iason Mink fucked the life out of him.

-OOOOOOO-

"Anori! Anori, Anori, Anori!" the name came out like a perverted chant from Yutaku's drooling lips.

Anori and Yutaku had asked for the Anti-Bar and got it, and Anori got a bad case of the heebie-jeebies while removing copper and gold Bars, before that changed to an all-powerful need to fuck. Yutaku had wanted to sleep after he found out he was a sorcerer. His mind was chockfull of spells, one right after the other. If he thought of 'tea' or 'biscuit', there was fifteen different spells to make each. Not only that, he could then also recall every page he had ever read, a lot of them were spells as well, but many of them- the Sousiphoid novels, for example- he could reread in his head. It was amazing. He could practically fall asleep looking through a mental library!

But Anori wasn't that interested in books at the moment, as extraordinary as it was to hear Yutaku read them aloud from his photographic memory.

He began ripping off Yutaku's clothes at once.

"Anori! Stop, you idiot! These are the only clothes I have!"

"Why are you always mean to me, Yutaku? Or should I call you Manny?" Anori sucked hungrily on his neck, removing the habiliments more gingerly now.

Yutaku gasped, quickly catching on, "Don't call me Manny, or I will call you Norrie."

Anori wrinkled his nose. "Fair enough."

He turned Yutaku around to kiss him face-to-face, sucking on his tongue as he would a piece of candy, and ground their cloth-covered groins together. He felt hot, of course, but more than that he felt an itch which only Yutaku could salve. He did his best to get under Yutaku's skin to feel more of him.

Finally, they had their clothes off; Anori impatiently turned his lover around and bent him over, pressing his claws over Yutaku's skin just hard enough to be painfully pleasurable; a hard caress of his sharp nails sent the flesh prickling.

Yutaku murmured senselessly, "Good!" Anori's smell was getting to him, per usual, and filled his senses with an mind-clouding aroma, putting him into a lustful trance.

Usually, Yutaku was the most eloquent of Blondies but Anori seemed to put him at his best, which was becoming a creature solely for sex.

After Yutaku was prepared with fingers and magically appearing oil which Anori always had handy, his arms were taken away from under him and he hung over the bed at Anori's whim. He slid onto the Dragon's oil-covered cock as easy as pie, groaning as each inch filled him to his core.

-OOOOOOO-

These days it took a lot to push Yui's buttons. Often, it was some matter outside the Master's hands that bothered him- the late Regiland, for example. That matter was settled- Master Raoul will write up the death of the Pet as an incident at a club; he will purchase another Pet and start the six-month process all over again.

But tonight he wanted to fuck Yui until he came screaming. The quiet nights with Regiland irritated him, and the Pet had put Yui out of the mood more than once with his proud Pet banality. Raoul intended to buy a Pet with less swell of a head. He also intended never to let Yui out of his sight again. Not only will he be kept safe from the no-smell Sentinels, the Pet would live longer.

Yet Yui was nervous. Though his fellatio was divine (the master's words), and he handled the small toys well, he didn't think he would be good with anal sex. Much to Yui's surprise, Raoul was a patient lover. They hadn't gone all the way yet in the past two weeks, and Raoul seemed placated (or excited enough) just to watch Yui, for which the Furniture was grateful.

No toys now. Raoul towered above him, Bars out, but perhaps not completely. And he was naked. Yui was also nude, his reddish penis raised a bit but too nervous of what was to come to go any further.

"Don't be afraid of me, Yui."

"I'm trying to, Master," was the sweet, honest reply..

"It will hurt." How much, Raoul had no idea, but he could think.

This started making him think a little harder. A part of him worried about the Sentinels, how he was doing just what they were getting after, and he was afraid of Jupiter, of course. She would frown upon this- if she could. Still, Raoul had been having the strange thought that perhaps she didn't exist, and she was actually completely a computer program. There was another strange thought that came with the mirror: The Sentinels were the ones really in control. For some reason, that really scared him. At least Jupiter didn't leave the Grid and her favorite Blondie was his best friend.

"Master?" Yui called him from his deep thoughts.

Raoul shook his head, trying to shake the crazy ideas from up there. He growled, cupping Yui's erection and gave it a firm squeeze. He was glad it was there, and he didn't question its appearance. The mirror had said it all. Yet, another unsettling thought pounced into his mental cavity, an overeager kid on his back.

Jupiter got her way back then. She had to, they couldn't remember any of it. Or the Sentinels did their job. Whoever. Eventually, they were all caught and had their minds swiped and tampered with false memories, at least the non-Blondie persons. There were possible surgeries involved, or magic, to make them look younger as well. Then they were put on separate teams in Watch, Yui became a Furniture, never would have guessed to be Raou-

Yui grabbed _his_ penis, but it was limp. Raoul was no longer in the mood.

Yui watched his Master worriedly. The Master wasn't the one to chew over things too long, unless it was the nagging sort of chewing. The Furniture grew more alarmed when his Master simply flopped down beside him.

"Not tonight, Yui."

"Yes, Master."

"Some other time. Tomorrow."

"Yes, Sir."

Raoul ran through Yui's hair, smiling a little. He had no idea that he just promised a lie that would last for a while.

-OOOOOOO-

"Ima! You come out here this instant!"

Heiku received no answer from his Pet. The girl (a grand woman, actually, as she was now pushing 200 years) had used a magnificent code that had overrode anything Heiku put in. The Blondie was pleasantly surprised, just as he had been when he realized that Ima was a mongrel. It all made sense now. Her attitude, her allure, her infuriating camaraderie with Riki.

The mirror of the far past had sent him in for a dizzying whirl and nothing could overcome it, especially not Ima's secret. There were bigger secrets out there, definitely.

"Ima, I'm not angry," he said softly, hoping he wasn't just talking to the door.

He wasn't. Ima answered, "Really?" She had ran straight to her room after the silent ride home. She couldn't give her Master the chance to get her and yell her down. It would be her worst nightmare come true. She blamed Riki, blamed him for the mirror, too, quite unreasonably so. She thought that if Riki never came and put Iason's mind in the gutter, Iason would never had shown everyone that stupid mirror. Now the Blondies would be all in an uproar about it and Jupiter knows what would happen to her. If anything happened to Heiku, she thought without question, life would be over for her. No one will like her as much as Heiku did, and she could never like any other Blondie the same way she did her Master.

"Yes, really. Silly girl, you don't think I can be like Iason and learn to like you with or without the tail?"

"But I lied to you," said the small, muffled voice. "For years."

"I understand that, Ima. Now, come out."

She came out, slowly, uncharacteristically timid and scared. Heiku realized he had never seen this side of her before. The uncertain Ima. She stood before him, head hung low. He lifted it with his fingertips. Then he kissed her. At her shocked look, he said, "In the mirror, it was obvious we were lovers, correct? Perhaps, it was meant to be this way?"

Ima answered a toned-down version of what she thought: "If it is all the same to you, Master, and don't take this the wrong way, but, I want things just to go back to the way they were before." She thought mentally 'FUCK NO!'. Yousi Xuuju was also in that mirror, and he was dead. She also believed that if they were truly meant to be together, Jupiter would never have caught them in the first place, notwithstanding the mere coincidence that they were together again and some embers of love burned between them.

Again, Heiku was shocked, and took it personally, the wrong way. Saddened, he said, "Very well." At this small defeat, he, too, thought about Yousi.

-OOOOOOO-

Aertis Jin left Konami Sung's home with two things he ever truly wanted (in the deeper recesses of his mind, anyway). His sword and a kiss from the Headmaster. The first was harder to get back than the latter was taken. After a bunch of verbal arguments that didn't work at all, he convinced the Headmaster that he could change the sword's shape with his Spirit; Konami had watched, face grim, as Aertis took the sword back and shrunk it to a little trinket, then he pushed the blade into the hilt and it looked like nothing more than a simple golden T.

"See? There's nothing about this to worry about."

"I see." Konami was only a bit convinced, but hadn't reached for the sword again. Less than a minute before then, they had kissed.

Aertis had his hands on his arms, urgent, eyes wide with fear, lips trembling, and Konami just couldn't help himself. He took the boy's hair and crashed their lips together. Konami, out of all the students he called naughty, and the friends he patronized so often, was the naughtiest Blondie out there. He's had sex multiple times, with other Blondies and various others, on trips and in Amoi. He masturbated weekly, but he also flogged himself often, as if to punish himself, but knowing that Jupiter would do far worse.

But Aertis didn't know all this, and so the kiss came as a complete shock, but he liked it. And he liked his Headmaster. When he was still in school, he admits now, he had liked being tamed by the headmaster. It was never as hard as his friends made it out to be (Konami had gone significantly easier on him than anyone else, he didn't know), until he got into his last two years of school. The young Blondie had melted into the kiss, moaning.

After the sword was attained and put into his pocket, Konami turned abruptly away. "It's late Aertis. Lord Handel might be worried. Go home. I will see you tomorrow."

He wouldn't see him for some time, actually.

Aertis didn't want to ruin the moment so he obediently went out the door, tiny sword in his pocket.

When he had closed the door behind him, a Sentinel was waiting for him, made impatient by the loss of Yutaku and Anori, and wanting a win for their side for a change. The Blondie tackled Aertis just as he descended the steps, had been making way to his car (a gift from Iason and friends). Aertis let out a surprised, "Headmaster!" before being dragged away around the corner to where there was a van and four other Sentinels.

Konami exited his house too long after Aertis called his name, thinking perhaps the boy was stubborn to leave. But he didn't hear Aertis' car start, and that got under his skin. He went out to find Aertis missing, and the car still in his driveway.

-OOOOOOO-

Riki had slipped from the others as the others had tiredly exited the limo. The Pet ring had broken from around his penis and he took this opportunity to leave. He humorously lamented the fact that he never got the chance to see if Ima's little mirror trick worked.

He hailed a cab to Midas, a different side closer to Ceres, paying from the only card that seemed to be working, a card that only worked close to Eos Tower. Riki believed that Iason had something to do with that.

He searched for Bison. First, it was the clubs they would go out to on a night like this, and then he tried their old flat, the one they would rotate back to once in a while when avoiding the cops, and that's where they were. He saw five bikes, and wondered who that last one was for.

By then, Katze, accompanied by Daryl, found him. They didn't confront him, per orders, but Katze wasn't just a little angry that Riki left Iason. It wasn't just disrespectful, it was a spit in the face to the good life that he didn't realize he had. Daryl pitied the mongrel. Both stayed in the car and watched Riki enter the building.

At first his old friends didn't notice Riki, but the new guy did and spoke out, as if suddenly offended, "Who's he?"

Their turning heads seemed to be in slow-motion for Riki. They widened their eyes at his new look, not only his physical appearance (which was a transformation in itself, no doubt) but his spiffy new clothes didn't take away anything. He raised one leather gloved hand and said, "Hi, guys."

Guy got up first, practically launching himself towards Riki. He gathered Riki, who was still shorter than him, into his arms and buried his face in the crevice of his neck. Smelling him and Guy realized that Riki was really there, and he wasn't just a whiff of imagination.

Riki smelled different. Riki smelled _good_.

Then he pushed him away angry, two tails popping out and wagging furiously.

"Where in the hell have you been, Riki?"

Riki's eyes shifted, an act that told Guy immediately that he wasn't going to get a straight answer anytime soon. But Guy definitely didn't want that. "Riki?"

"Who's that?" Riki said in much the same tone as the new boy had said it.

Norris, rearranging his signature eyeglasses, swung an arm over the young man. "This is Kirie, our newest member." He pulled him over so as to swing an arm around Riki, crunching his elbow to hold him over in a lock. "Where you been at all this time, oh fearsome leader? You look like you spent the last three years sprucing up." _And, boy, did you spruce up, _Norris said mentally.

"Yea, you could say that."

The other Bison members waited for an explanation, but didn't get one.

Luckily, in a week, they would get it.


	16. A Week of Misgivings Part 1

A Week of Misgivings Part 1

There were many calls made to Iason's mirror the next morning after he bid Voshka farewell. He didn't tell the Dragon anything, though part of him wanted to, desperately, and he was extraordinarily curious about _his_ mirror. However, that feeling, that harsh inclination that seemed so physical, told him that it wasn't the right time. So the Commander had left, thoroughly disheartened.

At the present moment, Iason was warding off long conversations on the phone and trying not to think about Riki while he was at it, aided by Juthian's neverending supply of his wine. He decided he fwould give Riki a week.

He had a strange conversation with Omaki, whereas the Blondie asked for Enyu. Evidently the mirror had a strong effect on Omaki, so much that he wanted Enyu for himself. Much like Heiku had jumped on the fact that he and Ima were at the least sexual partners, Omaki wanted to continue the practice.

It was a good thing, because Iason was starting to regret bedding the Pet for the sofle reason that it made him think of Riki. He didn't want another last night to occur, knowing that he would wake up to the Cat curled up on his chest. As pleasing as it was to have a Pet obedient and eager in bed- hell, in the house- he missed Riki and his sometimes bratty behavior, his mongrel charms, and the way he swished his tails back and forth when he was angry.

He said that Enyu was ready at any time. Omaki told him, "I knew you would agree. I'm already on my way." And then Omaki hung up. He was the last call.

"Did you not enjoy last night, Master?" Enyu asked sadly from behind him.

Iason frowned. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"I just heard my name... I don't know who was on the other side."

Iason sighed, rubbing his temples. "If it's any consolation, it was Omaki, the man whom you had intimate relations with on the mirror."

This was much consolation to the Pet, as he was curious how the Blondie would be in bed if they used to be lovers sometime in the past. Granted, he couldn't remember and things may have changed about him that he didn't know about, and may not like, but the basic things haven't changed. He was a glorious-looking Blondie, almost as beautiful as Iason.

"Gather your belongings. He will be here soon."

All of Enyu's personals consisted of clothes and some jewelry that he had received from the Master before his previous one. His Master before Iason was a horrendous prick. From his room, one of the suites, he could see partway in the room Voshka Khosi was in, and hear Yutaku Iman and Anori Khosi going at it again. Enyu deemed it as mating season for the Dragon; Enyu emphasized completely.

He was excited to see Omaki when he finally arrived. He smelled his sex, as he was already excited walking into the penthouse. Most of the last weeks they had in Amoi they spent together doing the do.

-OOOOOOO-

A visitor dropped in when Omaki went to Iason's. Ru, Omaki's Furniture, answered the door and looked into the haunted, handsome face of the young man he saw on the mirror. The one involved in his threesome with Sarius (Ru and Sarius had been texting nonstop about that, with a lot of blushes, giggles, and pumping heartbeats). He was so surprised he didn't hear his words.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I was paid ten thousand credits to come here."

The name Ayuda passed through Ru's mind, the man Jupiter never got, who may have helped Yui and the others out. He was good at catching details like that.

"Oh, sure, Kahlan. Come in?"

Kahlan planted his feet firmly on the doormat. "How do you know my name?"

"I'll tell you _all_ about it, if you come in, please. Please do!"

Ayuda hadn't been on the mirror, so Ru didn't think to ask Kahlan the details of the facial features of the man who told him to come to Omaki's home. Ru made Kahlan a glass of cold tea and sat with him, and that was when Aki came in and said, "Kahlan!"

Kahlan looked at the door with sincerity, and Ru noticed that he had taken the chair closest to it.

Ru took his hand, making him jump. "Don't be afraid. Let us explain."

And they did explain, down to the minute detail, including his relationship with Ru and Sarius, or what songs he liked to sing for money. His voice had been popular the short snippets they saw of him through the fast-forwarding. The main thing that convinced Kahlan were them referring to nunchucks as his main weapon. Kahlan had the very pair they described, but he never knew exactly where they were from. It just so happened that a mysterious friend in Aristia had given it to him. When they were done, the tea was gone, and Omaki was in the driveway with Enyu.

"This can't be happening," Kahlan said. But he believed it, because it also explained the Bars. Kahlan had long ago found them, then had a doctor put them back. He looked otherwordly without the Bars and had uncontrollable powers. Lack of experience edged him to the wisest thing he could think of, which turned about to be the best. Plus, he could handle the nunchucks with or without the Bars. And he needed them in rural Aristia where monsters dwelled behind the many trees.

"Well, we don't know what the Blondies are going to do about the mirror," Ru answered.

"I'm not sure they can even do anything." Aki threw his hands up in a defeated gesture. "I mean, think about it, if they do anything, those Sentinels are sure to pop up somewhere."

Aki and Ru did not know that they were already stalked by the Sentinels. Anyway...

Omaki walked in, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. On a leash, Enyu came up behind him, looking interestedly at the trio of people at the table. He was so happy he could burst. Inside the car, Omaki had given him the fucking of his life, pumping into him with wild abandon. He pulled his hair back and drew his body tight against him, thrusting hard and forcefully. His whispers of promises, tinged with awfully dirty talk, set Enyu over the edge. Though Enyu had mostly lied there, Omaki had come just as quickly.

"Hello, Ru, Aki, Kahlan!" he greeted cheerfully.

Omaki took in Kahlan's not-so-surprised visage. "I supposed you filled him in, Ru? And he believes you."

"Yes, Master," Ru said, taking Omaki's cape and putting it on the coathanger near the door. "He said that someone paid him to come here."

Kahlan explained, "I don't know his name, but I needed the money, and I saw him-" the Aristian pointed to Aki. "-playing an air guitar in his room. I figured you guys weren't bad people."

Aki blushed, reddish-blonde hair matching his skin. He was a Ruby Elite, while Suuki was a Platina. In the mirror, his hair was much more red, while Suuki had been nearly white. Soon, his friend (was that all between them? Of course not) was to come and they were going to hang out before the rest of summer vacation ended and they really had to start on homework.

"Where are you headed after this, Kahlan?" Omaki asked, helping himself to cold tea from the fridge. He shooed Ru away and poured himself and Enyu some.

"Actually, I just quit my job as a messenger and was hoping to find work back home. There are more job openings in Aristia during the summer. But right now, I will blow off this money I got from that man." Kahlan failed to add that his family had been murdered by a certain group of hooded people and he had been avoiding Aristia ever since.

"Why don't you stay here? I think it's safe to say that things will be a lot more interesting."

"Here? In Amoi?"

"No, no, I mean, well, yes in Amoi, but here at my home," Omaki offered, waving a hand around his place. "You can be my personal messenger, if you know how to take care of yourself, still."

Kahlan had his nunchucks in his apartment, and his dark face lit up. He looked at Ru, almost by instinct, and replied, "Sure."

Kahlan never did a job for Omaki.

-OOOOOOO-

Benjamin Sousa came by Iason's soon after Enyu left with Omaki. He had his glove off, showing off his tattoo. The tattoo had a 1.

But Iason was no fool. It was a ruse to get him to react emotionally and make him say with his face what he would lie with his mouth. The Sovereign ushered Ben in his home all the same.

"You have a tattoo," Iason had said simply. He had already warned everyone to go to their rooms, and to be quiet, except for Askel and Freyn, and Odi, who stood by his side.

"Oh, my, yes. Usually I wear gloves to cover it, but it was so long ago, I'm sure Jupiter would forgive me." Ben laughed as if they were sharing some inside joke.

His ingratiating pleasantness aggravated Iason, but he kept his face a cool mask, only smiling to be polite.

"But the main reason I have come here Iason- Oh, where is your Pet and your Furniture? Sorry if I may seem nosy, it just seems rather... quiet here." Ben's tone dropped. "Too quiet."

"My Furniture and Pet are out doing various tasks," was the smooth lie. "They won't be back until late." It was a full reply, meant to deter anymore questions, for Iason didn't want Ben to stay too long. He didn't trust Ben as far as he could throw him. (little did he know that he could throw Ben very far).

"Oh, well, like I was saying," Ben said as if he was interrupted by Iason, "I was wondering where Sir Iman was? Have you seen him?"

"No, I have not."

"Are you sure?"

Now, Iason smiled, a ferocious small smile. "How can I not be sure?"

Ben frowned a bit, for a second, then smiled back. "I was only asking. Sorry if I seem pushy, I just really need to see him. Soon."

_You won't be._

"It's almost as if he is hiding from me! You know? But he can't hide forever, now can he, Iason?"

Something squished his diaphragm as he was just about to answer that he supposed Yutaku couldn't, and instead he said, "You will find him, eventually. Try the school library. I hear he spends his other life there."

Ben laughed, eyes open to slits, his grin was very wide. He looked like he was laughing angrily. "I haven't checked there, yet. I guess I'll have to look now. Good day, Sovereign."

"Good day." And Iason closed the door. He had a bad taste in his mouth.

A disheveled Yutaku came from his suite, wearing a big frown, causing wrinkles in his handsome face. "He knows we're here," he told him, then rearranged his glasses nervously.

"I know."

And then the sirens went off.

-OOOOOOO-

Konami quickly came to terms that it was his fault Aertis was taken. Aertis had called his name and he had ignored him. In his pride, he had left him alone just when he needed him most. It tore at his heart. The sirens the police rung up drove the point home that Aertis was gone, and it was a_ll his fault_.

Better judgment told him that he shouldn't be so distraught over this. That it was his Blondie duty to call up the alarms, but not to worry too much over Aertis' disappearance. It happened rarely, and no time had the victim lived. No one was going to answer to the ransom, as usual (or they didn't want to risk catching the attention of the Sentinels). If a Blondie managed to get himself kidnapped, he wasn't worthy to be a Blondie. That included the younger ones.

Blondies were built with highly equipped bodies, bodies brimful with intelligence and strength and a loyalty to the Guide of Jupiter. A defect on any of these points makes a person not worthy of being a Blondie, or a Ruby, or Emerald, or even a citizen of Amoi. Aertis must have made a mistake on the way out, but Konami didn't think so. It was some sort of surprise attack.

Maybe Aertis and his friends had made some enemies in Aristia, but then how did those people know he was Amoi? No, that couldn't be possible, either. They wouldn't go through all the trouble to kidnap him, knowing Amoian policy. Maybe it was just a stalker; Aertis definitely was just the one who would be oblivious to an insane follower, as trusting as he was. If the devil smiled at him, Aertis would be the guy to smile right on back.

"There would be a look-out for him, and a search," said the Tanaguran police chief to him in his private home, feet away from where Aertis called his name. "But you know how these things usually end." He shrugged, a bit worried all the same. He knew about Aertis; caught the boy and his friends speeding but had let them go. The boy had told him his name, just in case the police chief changed his mind about calling a school official. He hadn't told his friends' names.

But it wasn't his place to reminisce with a Blondie of such power. He tipped his hat with the Amoian emblem on the top.

After he left, Konami went straight to his room, took a little medicine for a headache that was forming, and traveled into a deep sleep.

When he would wake up, there would be a ransom note on his table. A note for his eyes only.

-OOOOOOO-

It was five days into the week Riki was away. Every day, Konami got a new ransom saying the deadline was at the end of the week; every day, a new Blondie apprentice was kidnapped, all with some connection to Aertis. Kahlan and Ru had migrated to heavy-duty kissing between them, and Suuki and Aki finally started on their summer work. Enyu found out about Omaki's nightly transformation, but the Blondie no longer left his bed to get his fill on sexual congress. Xian, with long-night texting to his Juthian, no longer needed his nightly strolls, and hardly saw a dead soul. He and Raoul purchased more Pets, but weren't called on by Jupiter. Raoul took his time to instill obedience and respect in the Pet, a shy thing straight out of the Estrella 'Family' Estate, a famous group of Ruby Elites. Heiku and Ima continued life as normal, much to the former's annoyance and the latter's enjoyment.

By then, Iason had purchased a three-million credit mirror camera. It can be controlled by remote and camouflaged into its surroundings. Built-in mechanics made controlling easy, as it would automatically read the environment and dodge oncoming obstacles. It recorded and retained information on people and places, it could fly, and it could be set to target one person.

That one person this entire week had been Riki. Katze controlled the mirror, as Katze was closer than the Sovereign. Iason had synched a far less expensive mirror to the reading on the mirror camera and got all the footage of his Pet's endeavors, which he hooked to the projector. Today, yet again, was him and Guy having sex.

Like a kid eating candy, Iason drank his wine. His tolerance was high, Juthian knew. Nevertheless, he only filled his Master's glass half full.

"Riki, oh, Riki, I've missed this!" Guy cried, moving his hips between Riki's legs almost recklessly.

"G-Guy!"

The glass shook; the contents, since only up halfway, rattled to the edge.

But if Iason could read minds, he would know that Riki was thinking of him, and it took everything inside him to yell Guy's name instead of Iason's. Poor Riki couldn't get hard without thinking of the Blondie, though Guy remembered plenty of his soft spots.

Like his left nipple, which made him gasp, a sign which Guy took to suck harder, lick more firmly. Beneath him, Riki came, a paltry orgasm against what Iason would pry from him slowly and steadily.

They sat in the hotel room Riki had rented shamelessly with Iason's money; they smoked. Riki thought about spending the money this way: what the hell, he couldn't leave Ceres, even if he wanted, and the money _was_ given to him. However it did get him into trouble with his old Bison pals.

"So, are you going to tell me how you got the money for this room? Or room service? Fuck, all your new clothes?"

Riki puffed on his cigarette long and hard, giving an answer through his actions.

"Where have you been, Riki? I know it's not someplace bad. I won't be mad."

Riki fought the urge to laugh. Bad? It was worse than bad. It was lower than the pits of hell. Hadn't Riki himself once said that being a Pet would be pure hell? It hadn't been, he knew that now. But Guy would be seriously mad about it (About _that_, Riki had no idea).

He missed Iason, and the others. He had left them all, but Iason had to know where he was right now, probably had Katze watching him from some window.

Katze was down in the street housing the hotel, watching through his own mirror with the controls in his hand. He had settled the mirror camera on the ceiling.

"Fine, Riki." Guy got up, got dressed, got out. Twice he had gone like that already, and this time Riki didn't bother to go after him.

With him a-bye-bye, Riki dropped down onto his pillow. "Iason," he muttered.

The people in the Iason household stopped what they were doing. Anori looked up from his chess board between him and Yutaku and cheered.

Riki began to masturbate, murmuring Iason's name with an urgency he didn't show at all even the first time he and Guy had fucked. Iason took out his own cock and stroked to Riki's rhythm.

"Riki," he said, spreading his legs when Riki did so. Sometimes the mongrel slowed down, and soon all four tails appeared around him, and he licked his fangs. Iason found this extraordinarily stimulating, squeezing himself.

This went on for approximately five minutes, the house in a hush.

Then a feed started from the Central Light, and Juthian ran to answer it. It was a note from Jupiter.

**Iason Mink,** y**ou are summoned to Jupiter's Chambers, **it said, calling Iason a week or so from then. It said nothing about what the summoning was about, except that it required extreme loyalty and absolute secrecy, not about the meeting itself, but the contents of the meeting. Juthian suddenly regretted reading it. The lack of information didn't bide well with him.

When Iason was finished, with a low grunt that displayed his intense pleasure at only masturbating with his Pet, the Blondie tucked himself back in and relished the moments. Juthian then showed him the letter.

The blow to his gut was so great, Iason vomited.


	17. Time Cut Short

Chapter Fifteen of...Time Cut Short

Iason ordered Katze to retrieve Riki two days later.

Iason's friends had received the same feed from Jupiter.

Iason gathered almost the same group of friends and acquaintances in his penthouse to discuss the feed.

Iason's mind was cut between worry (true, full-blown) about the Chamber meeting and joy at seeing his beloved Pet again.

Iason and his friends watched the feed of the mirror camera as it flew above Katze's left shoulder, zooming through the air soundlessly.

Iason... was feeling sick.

-OOOOOOO-

Katze felt sorry for Riki. He's had a week of freedom, and Katze hoped he enjoyed it. Maybe he could think of it while Iason whips his ass raw. He let himself in the small building the Bison members have called home.

In his pocket was the Anti-Bar, Bar-magnet faced away from his skin. It would come in handy very soon.

-OOOOOOO-

"Isn't that Katze?" Kirie said first, watching the auburn-haired man saunter up with confidence and authority.

"Come on, Riki."

Riki showed defiant face, but Katze stood there stoically.

"If you don't come, he will."

"What's this guy talking about?" Guy demanded of Riki, but had his eyes set on Katze anxiously. "What do you want from Riki?"

"Should I tell them?" Katze asked.

Riki answered, standing up and making a hard fist, before releasing it, "No, I'll tell them. You go outside and I'll be out... Before long."

Katze turned to leave. He knew that they would beat him to a bloody pulp. After a second of thinking, he thought he could lessen Riki's punishment considerably if he left the camera inside. He took out the remote and targeted it on Riki.

-OOOOOOO-

"Do you owe Katze money?" Norris asked innocently. His eyes had a way of getting really wide, child-like. He shook his gray-brown hair out those eyes, smiling.

"No. He's here to bring me back."

Luke, Kirie, Sid, and Guy leaned forward, all anticipating Riki's answer, which was, they were sure, the answer to where he has been, where he got the nice clothes, and how he got the hotel room.

"Bring you back where?"

Riki wiped his face, suddenly nervous and not wanting to do this confession at all. They were going to kick his ass. And it would hurt. Wolf hits always hurt. (At least Amon was on his side)

"To Tanagura. To Eos Tower," Riki inched along. He wanted them to soak it in slowly.

"Why?"

"Because...Because... Iason lives there."

Norris asked, incredulous, "So you owe _Iason _money."

The others, having come across some rumors, knew better. The realization dawned on Guy's face; soon, it was replaced by fury. Sid put a large hand on Norris's shoulder and shook his head.

Finally, Riki said it, "I'm Iason's Pet. And-" Here, Riki's face crumpled with a wave of simultaneous sadness and longing, he whispered, "I don't belong here, anymore."

Short-lived relief washed over him, before Guy punched him in the face, and very pretty lights fluttered before his eyelids.

-OOOOOOO-

Iason decided he wouldn't punish his Pet after all. The beating they gave Riki was horrific, and the mongrel didn't fight back. Iason believed that it was because Riki felt he deserved it.

Iason was right.

-OOOOOOO-

Katze took out a cigarette. He had anticipated a fight from Riki and hoped the walk back to the car would cool him down, as the car had been parked on a semi-crowded street a ways from Bison's headquarters. Now, he regretted it. Riki will have to walk with his aches and pains. No matter if he was a fast-healing humanoid or not, it'll be a bitch.

He heard something; it was scuffling. Scuffling either meant someone's fight or flight, a flight with an injury. Initially, Katze thought to let himself mind his own business. Katze continued on his road of inhaling carcinogens. A wail interrupted the cig's destination to his mouth.

"No, Carmelo! You have to be quiet!" came a harsh whisper, a desperate command.

Katze heard some more shuffling, then Carmelo, a familiar name, and the owner of the more familiar voice tripped; Katze heard them hit the ground. The wail again, and, though he knew he shouldn't get himself involved in other people's business, and that this may be a potentially dangerous endeavor, he couldn't shake the fact that he felt he knew these people. He went to investigate.

As a man on top of his game, he knew the missing persons list. He remembered suddenly who Carmelo was- one of the Blondie kids that were kidnapped. The other person, the one who could actually speak, was Aertis, his opal Source apparent. He had a bloodstain on his shoulder, but his friend Carmelo was in much worse shape. To put it more directly, he was a terrible mess. Katze knew at once he wasn't going to make it even if he was warped to Tanagura Medical right this minute.

Carmelo, too, had a Source- lapis lazuli- but he had been shot in the face. Where there had been a right eye was nothing but a bleeding hole of torn flesh. He was losing his left leg, which was hanging on by the bone and a couple of sheets of skin. He had no less than three other wounds caused by bullets.

And, with terrible swiftness, he went limp against Aertis.

"Carmelo? Carmelo, you have to get up... get up some more... You're too heavy." Aertis shuddered and dropped his friend. A heavy sob heaved in his chest, and he stooped down to pick up his friend again.

Katze pressed a firm hand onto the boy's shoulder. Tired but scared blue eyes turned to him. "He's dead, Aertis. He's gone. We need to get out of here. Come with me."

"We can't leave him here. They'll do bad things to his body. They will... They will burn it and other things."

Katze assumed that it wasn't necessarily in that order and pulled Aertis by his elbow, directing the Blondie, taller than him, back to the Bison door, which was just around the corner. Without knocking he let himself in.

-OOOOOOO-

The people back at Iason's penthouse just witnessed one of the most horrific beatings ever, that they could remember. However, moods lifted considerably when Katze came back, relieved sighs could be heard throughout the room.

"Aertis?" Eadni said breathlessly, unsure if it was really him for a moment before he shouted, "Aertis!"

"What's that... Is that his Source?" Omaki questioned no one in particular.

Xian answered anyway, "Yea, that's it."

"He has blood on his shoulder," Suuki said.

The audience saw this was true, but Aertis walked tall, as if he wasn't in any pain. He stopped at the room full of mongrels, one of whom a mongrel he knew well. That one had bruises over every section of his body with a marshmallow-stuffed face. There was blood down his nose and mouth. Yet, just as he stared at him, his injuries began to heal, change color. Then Guy started the beating again.

And that's what made it so horrible. Every time the gang paused for a rest, Riki would heal up fast as magic, and then Guy would start up again.

-OOOOOOO-

Finally, Norris, tired out and facing away from the new arrivals, said, "Ok, Guy! Just because he's getting better doesn't mean he didn't feel it! Aishrulei on high!"

Guy looked like he still had some fight in him, but he, too, had taken quite a toll from beating up what felt like a still sack of flesh. But it infuriated him that Riki was still standing; it had to be that change he went through, whatever beefed him up (but hardly made him taller). He hadn't noticed Aertis and Katze yet.

Luke did, and he lifted his glasses, surprise etched into smooth brown eyes. "Hey, Guy?"

"What?"

Luke nodded his head towards the door. Guy looked in that direction and saw the Blondie and Furniture; he automatically assumed the Blondie to be Iason.

"You son of a bitch!"

Before Aertis could say anything- the boy was stunned- Guy ran to him. Katze stood in front of his chest to stop whatever Guy planned.

"This isn't Iason," Katze said simply.

"And if it was," Riki added then spat out a tooth, "he would take you down with one hand."

Sid had a renewed sense of respect for Riki. _I'm sure you could too_, he thought.

"Then who the fuck is he?" Guy demanded, then yelled, "You know what, I don't give a fuck! Get him the hell out of here." He swished around, his long hair flying, "You too, Riki. Like you said, you don't belong here anymore." When he turned back around, there was a gun in his face.

Katze told him with a straight face, "We need somewhere to hide. Where's the bathroom?"

Guy could read the signals. Katze wasn't playing.

There was a knock on the door. Katze didn't move, but he pointed to his lips, gesturing to keep quiet.

Guy pulled back his fanged teeth in a snarl and answered the door, "Who is it and what do you want?"

The ex-Furniture glared at the mongrel. He pointed his gun at the door now, and Guy, a bit convinced by Katze's action, decided to get out the door's way.

"Open the door," the voice ordered. "And you won't get hurt."

"No. Not until I know who you are."

"You wouldn't know me even if I told you, _Guy_, so just open the damn door."

Guy passed a bemused glace at Katze, whose eyes widened and grip tightened on his gun. _This isn't good_, he couldn't help thinking, though he knew that was jinxing the situation.

Guy swallowed, regretting ever speaking. He looked back and saw that the others were making their way to the door. Katze held them back by raising his hands, then he waved them back, they retraced their steps and hid behind the furniture. He gesticulated to Aertis to move back with them. Aertis, eyes wide and brimming with exhaustion, shook his head. He didn't think he would make it without passing out. And anyway, he knew that it would be pointless to hide by the time they knocked down the door, which they would most certainly do.

"No," Guy whispered, then louder, "No!"

_Ratta-tat-tat-tat-tat, _came the bullets through the doorknob, now smoking and falling out its hole. The door was kicked open by a long, strong leg. A high pitched laugh resounded throughout the room.

"Bob is here!" the Sentinel screamed, before a bullet made his head burst in a spray of very pink lasagna looking pieces, fragments of bone, and blood. Some of Bob's head got on Guy, and the mongrel stepped back, letting out several shocked cries.

"Damn it! Bob's down!"

"Who got him? Aertis?"

"I have no idea!"

Katze was pulling Aertis away, and getting to Guy when the next Sentinel popped inside the doorway. Katze shot this one in the chest, making him fall backwards a bit, then he pulled Guy by his hair and hissed, "Is there a back door to this place, fucker?"

Guy could only nod, then started running towards the back. The others were already out, but they had waited for Guy, Katze, and Aertis. The mirror camera followed, dodging the ceiling and passing under the door frame, knowing to encompass all the persons it was capable of as part of its pre-programming system. They continued on, following Katze pulling lead. They ran this way and that, but ultimately came to a circle, with Katze's car in sight, just big enough to hold of them if they held their guts in. They managed to lose the Sentinels early; those men took the wrong turn way back.

Still, Aertis looked over his shoulder ever five seconds. When they stopped, he puked off to the side.

There were Sentinels around Katze's car. They were ripping off the doors with their brute strength and the tires were all flat. Whatever crowd there had been had cleared out, there were two people on the ground, probably not sleeping.

"Now what are we going to do?" Norris whispered, wide eyes supernaturally wide now. He interlocked his fingers in a complicated pattern upside-down then brought his hands right-side-up, murmuring, "Aishrulei help us."

"Forget Aishrulei," Luke said, and Norris pouted but was used to those contemptuous of the female demigoddess that ruled underneath the Wolf god Malachi. "Malachi give us strength!"

"Strength won't do anything against bullets," Katze said.

"Do you have anymore guns?"

"In the car."

"Of course."

"Let's get the hell out of here."

"There's another car coming," Aertis said, face falling. "It's the Headmaster's."

"Damn, damn, damn," muttered Katze.

-OOOOOOO-

Konami decided, in the end, to come to Aertis and the other's rescue, but the point of transaction had been empty. Konami had left the money in the room, because having it made him sick. The boys waited for him in the car. These boys were Zusin Bogard and Mrir Simmons, Aertis's best friends.

Both had received the ransom notes; they had come to Konami's house, worried sick for their other now dead friends like Carmelo. Konami had just been ready to go, money in a briefcase. The boys wouldn't let him leave without them.

They each have been taught by their Guardians how to hold a gun and fire it, but neither really knew if they could kill someone. They would know by the end of the night.

They were driving a different way than the way they came and heard gunshots. Konami turned to them sitting in the back. "I think this is it, you two." They had nodded, but Konami wished he hadn't brought them. He was going to get them killed, and himself as well, he thought.

Now they could see Carmelo's body, face down, still bleeding a little.

"Headmaster," came a little whine from Zusin. It was reflex.

Konami had stared at the body as the Sentinels stopped to look at them. He couldn't quite believe it; yes, he expected it, even thought about it, but to have the truth so plain, it filled him with dread. He didn't think he really lived in a world that his students could be just... killed any which way. Konami forgot about his gun and his mission for just a bit.

"Well, if it isn't the Headmaster! Come on out!"

The Headmaster had a wonderful knack for faces even if he hadn't seen them for some time. This man was Allen, then Joseph, Conan, Harry, and a younger one, who seemed a bit nervous, named Louis. He remembered helping Harry with arithmetic, Conan with reading, Joseph with history, and Allen always liked to pull pranks on his Chaperone. Louis was still an apprenticeship under Benjamin Sousa. Surely, they couldn't be involved. Maybe they also were given the notes...

Then Louis pointed a gun at him.

"Wait, Lousi, wait," Allen said amiably. "You got the money, Headmaster? Sorry we didn't make it. We had a change of plans and decided to just kill them all." The grin was viciously wide.

"Are we going to kill him?" Louis asked, shaking.

"You're shivering like you got a bad case of cold," Allen murmured, licking his lips, still smiling.

"I'm not scared!" came the scream. Louis dropped the gun and raised his hands, shaking more than ever. "I won't tell."

"Whoopsies, that's the wrong thing to say." A gun went from its holster to Allen's hand in a matter of seconds and he pumped eight bullets into Louis's body, effectively stilling any shivers forever. Before Allen could say something more, a bullet landed in his chest.

Zusin had opened the back door, aimed, and fired. Accurately. Bars had fallen out of his body as soon as he saw Carmelo. His dear friend Carmelo.

Mrir snatched him by the newfound tail just as Zusin was about to jump out of the car and start shooting again. Mrir shouted at Konami, "Go! Go, Headmaster!"

Konami hit the gas. He saw in his rearview Allen opening his shirt and showing off a bulletproof vest. There was still sweat on the Sentinel's face, though.

-OOOOOOO-

"They have to make a turn!" Aertis said, doubling back the other way they came. "Come on, before they catch up!" He began to run and ran smack-dab into another Sentinel, who took him by the wrist and pulled him flush against his chest.

"Well, if it isn't Aertis and friends. Name's Paul."

"What is it with you people and saying your names?" Riki wondered aloud, now completely healed. The other Bison members behind them got into a battle stance. Katze pointed his gun.

Paul smiled genially; this was starting to weird Katze out. Sentinels always smiled. Even when outnumbered, Paul seemed happy enough. He turned Aertis around and stuck a gun to his head.

"It's a rejection of our true names; a statement of alliance to Jupiter, who gave us our new names and new lives. May Jupiter rule forever," Paul finished with a scowl. "It's just these Blondies, especially that Iason, that she always intends to keep. I understand it is pride, but still." He looked at Aertis, then gave him a kiss. "I'mma have fun with you."

When he began pulling him away, still holding the gun to Aertis's head, Katze shot at his feet.

"You almost made me pull the trigger, mongrel!" Paul exclaimed. "Then who knows what Konami would have done? Trying to fucking kill me."

"That bullet wasn't for you."

On cue, Aertis passed out on Paul, and with a snarl, the Sentinel dropped him, dodging the bullet that Katze aimed for his head. He began to run, not bothering to shoot back. He took a shot in the vest from the back. There was a _clump-clump-clump_ sound not too far from them just as he rounded the corner. Katze went to see what happened while Riki tried to rouse the unconscious Aertis.

Konami had hit Paul with the car, and he stopped there, rubbing his face. When he saw Katze he got out.

"Katze? You're Iason's old Furniture. Jupiter sakes-"

"They are not all gone. Aertis is just down there." Katze pointed. "But I can assure you that the others are dead."

Katze watched as Konami's face lit up, even a smile spread on the man's face. "Are you-? Aertis," he whispered, walking briskly in the direction of the indicating digit. Katze followed him, Mrir and Zusin coming up behind them both, and they were deep in the alleyway again. But Katze could hear cars, and he could guess it wasn't the general public coming back down the road. They had a fight on their hands, but he knew how to deal. He took out the Anti-Bar.

Aertis was up, hugging and crying into Konami's shoulder. Poor Konami was flabbergasted at the Source in Aertis's forehead, and then watched Katze in his humanoid form. Then the Anti-Bar was pressed to his body, dragged over every section. Harmless Spirit lightning passed underneath his skin; like Iason, he was overflowing.

"Headmaster," Aertis said, touching Konami's bright face. The Anti-Bar passed over him, then, and a few extra Bars fell around him. His small T of a sword went to the Bar-magnet as well. Katze picked it up, stabbing it into the young Blondie's hand.

Aertis's eyes widened, and he mumbled, "I c-can't. I couldn't, Sir."

"Name's Katze, even though 'Sir' has a wonderful ring to it. And you're going to need to use this, if you want us to get out of this alive."

"I don't know how to use it!"

"Just use your best instinct. If one of them gets close, slice his stomach open- Don't pass out."

A green color had passed over Aertis's sweaty face. His opal Source was bigger and his scales stood out. He had fangs, quite a few scars here and there, but was otherwise flawless. Mrir and Zusin were next, sorcerer and Fox, respectively.

Katze turned to Konami. "You can shoot lightning from the sky," he said bluntly. "It takes time for the clouds to form, but when they do you can blast lightning and Spring, though that is accompanied with a sound of thunder, loud thunder. I'm thinking you can attack first. They don't know-"

"Katze... What is going on? What did you do to me?" Konami asked. Rubbing his eyes, he added, "This isn't real... Why is this happening?"

"I'll explain everything in detail. Matter-of-fact, Sir Iason could show you everything that I just couldn't put into words, but you have to _listen to me_. We are going to _die_ if you don't. All of you are going to have to watch your backs. I would be glad to take them all on my own, but there are bound to be too many for me to handle. Look, your clouds are forming."

Above their heads, there _were _clouds, just a few dark ones surrounded by open night sky, the twin moons slowly making their waning way across the stars.

"What about us?" Norris questioned, grabbing hold of Katze's arm to get his attention. "The rest of us don't have any powers like that."

"Neither does Mrir, Zusin or Riki."

Norris didn't look convinced; Mrir and Zusin had guns, and Riki endured the beating of his life with only a batted eyelash. He eyed the Anti-Bar, taking it. He pressed it to his own skin.

Katze didn't think anything would happen. It didn't seem likely that some random mongrel friend of Riki's would have Bars.

But he did, because that was just how things worked on the Continent, especially anyone in Amoi. Norris's skin was covered in tattoos that the other mongrels noticed as the divine patterns of Aishrulei, and he lost his tails and ears, for he was no longer a Wolf, and neither were the others when the Bars passed over them. Kirie was actually a Snake, Sid a Bear, Luke a topaz-Sourced Dragon.

"What the fuck is going on?" Sid said, stretching some seriously clawed hands.

"Who cares! I've been blessed by Aishrulei!" Norris jumped to his feet from where they were huddled on the ground. "Me! Blessed by a demigoddess! Look at these tats!"

"Keep it down, you idiot!" Kirie hissed, but a lisp made his idiot sound like 'idioth'. "Do you want them to hear ussssss? Oh, Malachi!" He covered his mouth, annoyed.

Guy was the only one of a confused disposition. "I can't fight being some regular ass human. What can I do?"

"You weren't on the mirror, so I don't know."

"Mirror, what mirror?"

"You'll see it on the mirror when Iason shows you."

"_Iason_? And what makes you think that I'm going anywhere near him?"

Katze narrowed his eyes. "Once these guys got their crosshairs on you, they ain't gonna let go. Unless you want to fight these guys alone for the rest of your life, I suggest you come with us when this is all over."

"I'd rather die. Unlike Riki, I don't trust Blondies enough to go all snuggy with them."

"Are you going to help?"

"We're not helping, we are just on the same team right now."

"Whatever. Here, take my gun, since you are the only one that seems to need it." From his energy, Katze shifted a gun out of the air. It was bright yellow and Spirit dust fell from it.

The clouds were thick now overhead, and other parts of Ceres and Midas people watched in fascination as the phenomenon grew.

"Come out, come out, little Blondies, Headmaster. The name's Allen, but I'm sure you know that. I'm a level 5. Nice to meet yooooooou! "

"He seems to be their leader," Katze whispered. "That means he is the highest, the strongest. Sir Konami?"

"Konami is fine," Sir Sung answered. "If you are going to save my life, you deserve to call me by my first name."

"You'll be saving mine and I'll be calling you sir soon enough. I need you to shoot lightning on this guy."

"I don't know where he is."

"Feel for him. Or guess, or try to do more than one. I have faith one of them is going to hit."

Konami tried doing as he said, and as Allen got closer, Konami _could_ feel him, his presence. But then he realized he didn't know how to shoot the damn lightning, but that too, he began to feel. It came as a vibration strong up his arm, making his whole self shake. His body knew what his mind forgot, and Konami shot the lightning without even realizing it.

He missed, he felt that as well.

"Woohoo! That was close Konami. Guys- Ack!" came the loud gasp as the second strike of light hit its mark.

"Now, we need to spread out," Katze ordered quickly. "Go around and try to find a target and attempt to take him out on your own. They have guns, so you probably have one shot. Some of you might not survive this."

"Nice pep talk," Sid said wryly.

Katze nodded. He liked Sid. Anyone with a sense of humor in this situation got a thumbs-up from him.

They separated. The mirror followed Riki. He found one Sentinel standing next to another; he saw Norris. He gestured for the one on the right. Norris shot him an OK sign.

Amon Sprung next to him.

"Amon!" The blackness of Riki's eyes became bigger, so much so that there weren't any whites to them at all.

"Hey, young blood. Long time no see."

"How'd you get here? I thought you can't Spring out of Eos Tower."

Amon's eyebrows raised. "How'd you know I was there?"

"I can... I can see it. You and Eadni snuck out of the room and away from the Tower until you could Spring, and now you're here." Riki's irises shrunk to normal, and only his eyes got wide. "Holy shit! I can read minds and... and..." Riki was getting woozy.

"Ok, no more that." Amon steadied him. He wanted to question what he just witnessed, but decided that could be for a later time. "Look, I'll Spring up there first."

Riki shook his head. "They have guns. They'll murder your ass."

"Who in da' hell do ya' think I am? I got this. Just need to get to that Anti-Bar thingy." He Sprung away. Then back. "Wait for my signal." And then he was out again.

It took awhile, but Riki wasn't afraid, not for himself or anyone else. He read something else in that deep brief tunnel of telepathy; he could see _everyone's_ mind- and the Sentinels didn't think they were going to win. They didn't think so at all. They were just glad they took out part of the 'Aertis' crew. There were twelve in all, years ago, and now they were down to six-ish (the others weren't Aertis' close friends). The 'rules' had been that they had to be caught doing suspicious activity.

And they would be glad to take out just one of these 'higher, stronger members'. For some reason, they weren't going to engage Guy, unless they had a clean shot. Nor himself, or Konami. The Blondie made sense. Lightning was lightning. Him, some Wolf? He was dead, right?

He suddenly heard two things at once, a tremendous bout of thunder, and a long howl, and he was bombarded by _FUCK! AMON'S HERE! _from the minds of the Sentinels.

And this was the signal, he supposed. Though he couldn't see where Konami and Amon were, nor the other Sentinels, and he didn't think he could kill one of them if it came down to it, he ran towards his target, fast and hard, and punched him in the face. He watched in slow motion as the Sentinel's jaw unhinged, felt the teeth beneath the skin of his cheek come loose, and read his mind: _Just my fucking luck_.

He saw a flash of yellow Spirit dust. It was Norris, his dark tattoos had turned yellow and he wielded large Spirit tonfas. Riki wished he could make some sort of weapon with his Spirit. The way Norris twirled the weapons in his hand looked cool, as if he had been practicing for years.

"Waah! 'onth oo ith!" _Wait! Don't do it! _Riki heard both.

Do what exactly? Riki was so confused, and just hit the Blondie in his face.

_Don't suck it out of me!_

Riki stopped. He could already feel it, he couldn't help it. It felt wonderful, and Riki's whole body shook. Eyes completely black again, Riki dropped down and held the Blondie's battered face in his hands. The Spirit went into his own body, pulsing energy, the man's life, pouring into his being. Unbeknownst to him, he was getting an erection.

-OOOOOOO-

"What is he doing?" Eadni asked them, having made it back from outside to the penthouse. What he saw was Riki kissing a Blondie, and the Sentinel was slamming his hands into Riki's side to no avail. His veins stood out in his skin, and his eyes rolled in their sockets. Large puffs of blue Spirit puffed out his body and into Riki's. Soon, he stopped moving. Riki still sat on his chest; the puffs got smaller and smaller until there was nothing at all.

-OOOOOOO-

Riki, grinning a grin full of large white teeth, mostly sharp, shifted into a complete wolf, his clothes materializing into fur, and he charged for his next victim. At this range, most guns were useless.

Except for Katze's, who they saw used his mostly to pistol-whip anyone who got in his way. At their best view, there were about twelve Sentinels (there were fifteen in all).

One of them was in the air, wiggling around futilely. Beneath him was Guy, with his hands raised. When he put them down, the Blondie charged toward the asphalt. The crack in whatever broke could even be heard over the fighting's clamor. They watched Riki come over like a scavenger and suck the remaining Spirit out of the unfortunate Sentinel.

Amon watched this in surprise. He had six tails and Allen proved to be still alive yet again, though his feet were bleeding and his shoulder was burnt to a crisp. He threw a right hook that caught Amon in his large chest, but Amon barely budged. With a smile, he punched Allen in the throat. Holding onto it, the Blondie made a few gasping sounds before Riki was on him, sucking up dark green Spirit, and just when the little mongrel was about to move on, Amon took him by the scruff of his neck.

"Riki! Come back down to reality, Riki!"

Unseeing eyes switched to Amon, and the large mongrel got ready when Riki leaped onto him, going for his own throat.

There was a scream, and from the mirror's corner the audience in the penthouse could see Aertis had driven his sword through a Sentinel's stomach. His bottom jaw had dropped so that his mouth could gape as he slid off Aertis's weapon, blood coming from his mouth in a river.

Gunshots rung out in the street. Katze had gained some distance and was shooting again; the three that were knocked out by him were now engaged with Sid and Luke, whose clawed hands made shreds of their opponents. Luke breathed hot, flaming dark yellow firebreath just to be sure they were dead. Both were getting some huge fun out of this.

Like a sniper from afar, Katze shot Harry the Sentinel straight between the eyes. Aertis had buzzed out again, for just a short while, and the two that Mrir and Zusin were fighting were already dead. Mrir had been fast in dodging the bullets and had shot his dear friend Conan (Conan's own words) in the neck with a spell that came to his mind. It blew off Conan's head. Zusin had transformed into a fox, had a shot zoom past his shoulder, chewed off the Sentinel's hand, and went for the throat, and didn't miss.

Kirie hardly had a fight. He bit one enemy with fangs protruding from his gums, and the man died in less than two minutes, face going blue after he puked on the ground.

But the camera still showed Riki snapping at Amon's neck as the main attraction. At the same time, Spirit left Amon in dark blue bursts. The larger mongrel kicked Riki hard in the stomach, so hard, in fact, that Riki transformed back and looked dazedly up at the mirror.

"Did I get him?" he said to it, then passed out. As the mirror had been programmed to shut off when Riki was asleep, it turned off.

-OOOOOOO-

Pure silence permeated the penthouse living room.

And then, as if things weren't already heavy and confusing enough, Voshka Sprung into the room, waving a mirror excitedly.

"It isn't just a picture, Iason!" He was totally oblivious to his crowd. "It holds even more mirrors and you won't believe what's on them!" Then he saw Megala Chi.

Before, Iason had those awful feelings when they were within fifteen meters of each other; now, nothing happened.

However, he cared not. He just waited for his own lover to arrive soon. At the moment, he cared for no one else.


	18. A Week of Misgivings Part 2

I fucked up and forgot this chapter... But it is kind of inappropriate for FF.. Oh, well.

Chapter 16 of... A Week of Misgivings Part 2

There were two problems about going to Iason's. First, they didn't have enough space in Konami's car. Second, Guy didn't want the gang to go. Luke agreed a bit, just so Guy wasn't alone, but Kirie and Norris said it was suicidal, and Sid thought it was just plain idiotic.

The split gang tried to persuade at least Guy to change his mind. Luke didn't care which way.

"You heard Katze! They'll kill us. And we can't handle a whole bunch of them on our own!" Norris said, the tattoos around his eyes making them look absolutely enormous.

"We can. Didn't you see me? I can pick up people _with my mind_."

"For about ten minutes, then what are you going to do?" Kirie spat, glaring with his elliptical different-colored eyes.

"Why are you all chickenshit?"

"There's a difference between being savvy, being smart, being reasssonable, being cautiouss and then being chickenshit." Kirie pointed a smoothly scaled fingernail. "And there'ssssss nothing fucking chickenshit about not wanting to be outnumberedth by guys with gunssss and with only a intent to kill. Pluss, they had no worries about killing Blondiesssss, so they really don't give a fuck about tearing us to piecesss. i_Plusssss_/i, those guys know exactly who the fuck we are sssssso even if we were to hide, they'll find us. Like Katze said, do you want to try fighting them or hiding, which I know you're not going to do since you're so fucking bullheaded, for the rest of your damn life? I don't! I'm going with thesssssse guys, with or without Bissson."

The others looked at him with mixed expressions (the young Blondies were trying not to laugh every time Kirie's long tongue would wiggle out his mouth).

"Me too!" Norris cried. "With or without Bison, we're in over our heads. And this... Seems to be bigger than just us, Guy. Remember the mirror?"

"I don't give a fuck about the mirror," Guy murmured, but he had be thoroughly lectured. Without Norris and Kirie, the two youngest members, life would be kind of dull. And without Sid, he and Luke really didn't stand a chance. In Tanagura, there was no way these Blondies could act out. And he had lied, too- he did care about the mirror; what secrets did it hold to make Katze so confident? Just as Katze came back with a suspiciously procured van, he acquiesced.

Riki woke up when they arrived at the back door to the Tower, feeling woozy. Katze gave all the mongrels except one a fake Furniture ring (Amon already had one), which Katze always used to get in and out of the Tower. The Blondies all had rings. They went through a secret corridor, in the blindspots of the cameras.

When the party arrived at the penthouse, using a combination of stairs and the elevator, they were greeted by an applause started by Anori, hugs for the Blondie boys from Eadni, and Riki was slapped by Iason, who managed to dim the celebration.

And then he kissed him, and he could feel his Spirit being sucked into Riki. It felt good.

"Bad Pet," he whispered. "Bad, bad Pet."

Iason thought he heard a small 'sorry', but wasn't sure. He, however, loved the way Riki buried his head into his chest. From his angle, he could see Guy. Iason didn't like the snarl on his face; he was tempted to kick him and Bison out, but if they had Bars... They had to be involved.

Suddenly Riki pushed him away. "The mirror, I wanna see it," he said.

They all got comfortable in the penthouse; the gang of mongrels saw Amon and went next to him. Riki sat at Iason's feet after sliding off Iason's lap quickly upon see Guy's outraged face.

(Yes, Iason was very much tempted.)

Behind him sat Commander Khosi trying to speak to a silent Megala. Voshka had seen most of the mirrors, the one Megala had and the ones hidden in his own.

"You're him, aren't you? Why won't you speak to me?"

Megala, terribly shy, continued to say nothing, but his lips trembled to say something, yet he was too afraid to say anything in the end.

The group watched the important parts of the mirror they watched last week for Aertis and the others.

"So is this an alternate universe or something?" Aertis asked afterward. "Like in Warriors of the Galaxy?"

He and his friends looked seriously at the others.

Upon seeing the other confused faces, Yutaku explained, "Warriors of the Galaxy is a popular television show. And, no, Aertis, I don't believe that's it. It's more like this has been set in the past."

"But none of us remembers it," Aertis reasoned.

"Jupiter has ways of making people forget their entire lives."

Omaki intervened. "I agree with Aertis. Surely she couldn't swipe all of our memories. How did she get all of us at the same time?"

"It dwindled the numbers down," Amon said, thinking, swinging his tails back and forth. "Think about it, we really have no idea of what it is capable of." No one questioned the pronoun use of referring to Jupiter; in all honesty, no one knew what to refer to Jupiter as. But Iason had always used she.

Amon continued, "It has the help of who knows how many Sentinels, and they have no problem killing. It's obvious the wiry bitch got resources, so we can just chalk it up to that it wants things its way." He stuck a thumb at the piled of mirrors. "It don't matter when that shit was or what dimension they was in. Because of them, Jupiter has it in for us."

"Not all of us," Riki voiced, glancing at Iason. "She still likes him."

"Sometimes, I wonder why," Iason told them honestly.

"What are we going to do then?" Xian asked. "You can't hide everyone on their black list."

They were silent, contemplating. Iason was for once at a lost for words. He had no intention of letting Riki join regular society, not even the Saloon, for an indeterminable amount of time. But Xian was right, he couldn't hide the unmentionables forever.

"Is there anyone who wants to stay under the radar?"

"I feel uncomfortable leaving the children on their own again."

Aertis and his friends rolled their eyes at Eadni.

"Especially since they don't have their _Bars_."

"I have tons of Bars," Heiku offered. He recoiled from Eadni's stony glare. "Seriously, if we want to be realistic about this, we're going to need anyone with trouble with these... these Sentinels to face them head on, or else risk them doing something else drastic."

"They have definitely shown themselves as capable of doing drastic activities without our provoking them," Raoul said. He held Yui tightly in his lap, surprising the others. It just so happens that he has started not to care; he has spent a lot of time without his Bars. "Just think about the club."

"I personally want to be in my own living quarters," Yutaku voiced.

Aertis raised his hand, a habit he hasn't shaken off from school. "Me too. I mean, I'll be careful- I won't even go out at night."

"I will talk to your Guardians and make sure you are always chaperoned during the day as well," Konami promised.

"Us, too, as well?" Zusin asked, indicating himself and Mrir.

"Yes."

"Why?" the young Blondie whined.

"They were thinking about giving themselves another week," Aertis interrupted softly. "They wanted to get the two of you as well, and a few others."

"You give me those names," Konami demanded.

While Aertis gave the names, Iason continued onto another discussion: Jupiter's meeting with dozens of Blondies. "It's untold of," he spoke, almost indignantly, "that she would want to see anyone other than the Sovereign." _And I feel horrible about it_, is what he didn't say. It wasn't like they could refuse Jupiter's command. No need to worry the others.

"Maybe she is worried about all the kidnappings,"Aertis said.

Raoul chided gruffly, "Didn't you listen to the mirror? She is the orchestrator of all this."

"No, the Sentinels said they were following her orders. They could easily be lying."

"I think they are telling the truth."

"Me, too, Master," Yui agreed, shyly keeping his head down. "I believe she is the only being on the Continent capable of organizing such a large-scale covert operation, in Amoi, with Blondies. I believe the evidence strongly points towards her."

But Aertis wasn't finished. "But Iason is her favorite! Why isn't he part of the operation?"

Voshka answered him, "A series of video details Iason's absence from... us... and joining the Sentinels. Jupiter promised to leave us alone," he explained at their surprised faces. "But Iason proved to be incompatible with the other Sentinels because of Jupiter's favoritism. And evidently, though he has a special relationship with Jupiter- which Iason never explained, he couldn't be specially blessed by Jupiter. Apparently, someone else has already blessed him with a stronger power than which Jupiter is capable."

"Wait a minute, so what is Jupiter?"

"Upon recruiting Yui, he says she used to be a sorceress- Watching the mirrors will be a better chance of making sense rather than me."

"It's late," Iason told them. "We should meet later."

They did decide to end the night on that note, planning to meet each night. Voshka had a saying for their risky behavior: "Die for the egg, might as well die for the chicken." He had to reluctantly leave to go home, for he had no idea what Megala's place looked like, and then Iason told him, quite nonchalantly, that Megala lived a few floors under him; Voshka was gone in a flash, hurrying after Sir Chi.

Juthian asked Iason if he could go with Sir Xian and was granted permission. The suites of the floor were given to the new mongrels; everyone except Guy agreed that Ceres was too dangerous at the moment. Though not many of the Blondies cared for the non-citizens, especially Guy, Eadni cared for them, worrying about 'the boys' as much as he worried over everything else. Iason decided to keep them, for they wouldn't separate, and Riki wanted them nearby, saying, "I got them into this mess."

If Aertis was there, he would have told them that the Sentinels had also decided to kill Riki's friends, using the gang's various petty crimes as an excuse. They were in the mess with or without his intervention.

All who were to be involved this time around have finally gathered, and were all on one page. They had a week left to live in Amoi.

-OOOOOOO-

That first night, way after everyone else has left, Riki smoked a cigarette on the balcony, hanging his legs off the balustrade, an act that would have earned him the punishment of his lifetime.

"Die for the egg, might as well die for the chicken," Riki said, though it could be said that he was confusing the phrase. From behind, Iason grabbed him by the neck, pulling him down to the floor of the balcony.

"What have I told you about hanging off the railing like that?"

"What have you told me about running away?" Riki thought he shouldn't have said that as soon as he said it, knowing that it just made his punishment come quicker.

Quite unexpectedly, Iason hugged him, murmuring, "Oh, Pet. Those men could have easily been stronger than they actually were and... killed you."

"Yea, but they weren't, so you- wait, how do you know about those guys?"

"Katze has had a specially made mirror camera tracking you for the last week. I've been watching you do all your daily activities except sleep."

"All my daily activities?"

"Yes, all."

"Even...?"

"Yes, even that. Though you redeemed yourself marginally with calling out my name during your masturbation sessions. Tell me, who's better in bed? Me or Guy?"

"Sex with Guy was consensual," Riki mumbled.

"That doesn't answer my question. "

The mongrel sighed dramatically. "You, alright? You're better. But if you tell Guy I'mma kill you. It's bad enough he's in the Tower with us."

"He does make our relationship more awkward than normal. Who would have known that this obstacle would cross us?"

"No one would have guessed. Except maybe Jupiter."

"Do you think she is in charge of the Sentinels?"

Surprised that Iason wanted to know his opinion, Riki answered, "Yea, I could see it in that guy's mind. He's even spoken straight to her- well, actually, it. When it's angry it takes the form of a..." Riki's eyes shifted. "...guy-looking thing. But he doesn't have... you know, lady and boy parts."

"No reproductive organs."

"...Sure..." Riki felt Iason's thick erection. "Is talking about this getting you hard?"

"No, being near you is." Iason led him back to bed, eager to reestablish their physical connection. Riki, a bit excited in all sorts of places himself, threw his cigarette over the rail. He earned himself a frown from his Master with that action.

Upon reaching the corridor that led to Iason's room, they saw Guy trying to find the kitchen so that he could have a drink of water, the water shut off in the suite he was in. His eyes narrowed substantially at seeing them, and he turned around abruptly to go back to his room. Small items, like the two vases and pictures, rose in the air as he passed them, clanking down when he made it back to his room.

By the short time they got to Iason's master room, Riki was guilty enough to not take pleasure in coitus, no matter his earlier anticipation of some good sex.

At first, Iason was ready to take his Bars out and perhaps force Riki to enjoy himself like he has done so many times before. He didn't. Riki had been through enough that day.

The next time they would make love would be on a grass floor.

-OOOOOOO-

The second night of the week: Xian and Juthian were having a more fortunate time together. Uninhibited by distance, they took the opportunity to have sex as often as possible, trying several positions and techniques on each other.

Juthian was on top, swirling his hips on Xian's long cock. The Blondie's stomach had been already been spotted with his semen.

"Master!" Juthian moaned, rocking faster. "Master, Master, you're so good!"

"No, Ju!" Xian groaned loudly, catching it in his throat, then cried out, "Say my name!"

"Xian! Fuck, Xian!"

It was no secret that Juthian didn't wait for Xian when it pertained to sexual matters, though his heart will always belong to his former master (who seemed to also be a former form of a lover). However, it was a bit of a secret that Juthian had perfected the art of sex for his one and only Master.

He yanked himself, impatient for release. Already, Xian was close, Juthian could see his stomach clench repeatedly, a sign. Grabbing his organ, the Blondie brought them closer to a fantastic orgasm, one of many that night.

-OOOOOOO-

Vaessi Mils was a quiet man, full of unfulfilled musical dreams and ideas. Enil Tapani King and Kyle Rhys were his best friends and have always supported whatever he tried. To him, they had the most wonderful voices in Amoi. Enil a tenor and Kyle a counter-tenor, they leveled each other out in songs he wrote.

He's known a long time of the Sentinels; with his hearing, which could be a bit abnormal, whatever whispers Ima and Riki shared with Amon could easily be heard. But talking had never been his forte- no pun intended- and he figured the sooner they acted against the No-Smell Blondies, the sooner they would deal with trouble.

Despite that, now that he was in for the long haul, he figured he could dig a little deeper. He thought he could start with deepening his relationship with two wonderful hidden singers, who hid their talent with their businesses.

But, being a Blondie, the only relationships he ever had were barely platonic. He once asked Omaki on how to advance to that uncomfortable stage, and he started talking about arousal and other sexual activities. Vaessi learned plenty, about sex, but sex wasn't the type of development he wanted. He had talked to Xian, and the golden-eyed Blondie didn't know the answer, saying his love for Juthian just sprouted without him really knowing. Meg and Raoul were out of the question, and speaking to Nico would only set him off going on and on about Aether. Iason, on the other hand, Vaessi knew to be a private person; the obscured musician didn't believe Iason would want to talk in detail.

The third night of that week and he decided just to tell Enil and Kyle plain, as he had always done.

"That's what you've been super quiet, like, more quiet than normal for?" Kyle spoke exasperatedly. "And here we thought you were thinking of an opera or something."

"What more do you want?" Enil asked, shaking his curly hair out of his eyes. "Sex?"

"Yes, eventually, but before that, I don't know. Maybe we should get to know each other more?"

The three were lying down in Vaessi's bed after strenuous singing practice, which they did whenever they got together. Work was longer than normal today, and they met several Sentinels that got them not a little antsy, so by then they were a bit tired.

"I just want to cuddle like this," Kyle grumbled into Vaessi's right shoulder.

On the left, Enil said, "Or we could have sex, if that's what you want, Vaessi."

That wasn't what Vaessi wanted. And then he thought of it, just what he wanted, it was simple. They knew enough of each other to last plenty of years, they had enough in common to entertain themselves forever, and they still had arguments to spare. Enil and Kyle have yet to even try out the rival jealously thing over Vaessi yet. It has all happened so passively, Vaessi was starting to feel discontent.

"I love you both, from the bottom of my heart."

Kyle and Enil looked at each other. They both realized they never said those three words before, and so they answered, "We love you, too."

That sealed the deal.

-OOOOOOO-

It was three days after the Sentinel's attack on the mongrels, the fourth night, and Megala Chi just couldn't get rid of Voshka Khosi. The Dragon would hound him for at least two hours a day. He even acquired an Anti-Bar and used the device on him, like he did tonight. Mating season was a few days done (Poor Enyu was in hell; not even Omaki could keep up with him during his interval), but that did nothing to deter Voshka's relentless courting.

"My lovely Megala," he would start each day he came home from work, "How was your day? Did you think about me?"

At first, Megala simply made a beeline to his room, but yesterday he said, "Yes, I thought a bit about you." That was a mistake on his part, and a lie. He thought the whole day about Voshka, but telling him fueled his advances evermore. Made him start using hypocorisms to describe him; things like love, gorgeous, and Megala's actual favorite, jewel now were second names for the architect. All this happened in less than a week.

Voshka launched behind him as he was making dinner, and Megala was glad that he rid himself of Furniture and Pet. How they would react to this!

"My jewel," he whispered in his ear, causing the Blondie to shiver; he shivered back. "My love, my gorgeous." Gorgeous just so happened to be a noun in Alphazenian, and the Dragon had no problem implementing the word usage into his Amoian talk.

"You just like me because I'm pretty."

Voshka smiled, pleased just to receive a reaction. "Perhaps a physical attraction is what adhered my thoughts toward you, but your shyness, your intelligence, and the furtiveness of our alliance is what keeps me here, among other things. "

"You're using awfully funny words again."

"My apologies."

"No need to apologize. Could you cut up these tomatoes for me?"

"Yes!" Voshka started eagerly.

There was a pleasant quietness between them before Megala asked, "What about your state? You rule a country."

"The hours I spend with you are during the well-planned recess hours back at home. As you know, there is a time difference. There is no problem."

"That's good."

Voshka was finished, and he turned to Megala, invading his personal space as he bent down, as he was wont to do. "You think that is good? I'm glad."

"I meant that it is good that visiting me doesn't get in the way of your work!"

"No, you like spending time with me."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Then... You don't like spending time together?"

"I...I am alright with it... Please step back."

"Do you, or do you not, like spending time with me?"

Megala swallowed nervously, looking down at his bare feet. "Voshie, I just don't know if I can answer that question right now."

Megala said Voshie at least once a day, taking the name from the mirror; it was a name he used when he was at the end of his rope, a way of entreating with all his might. And Voshka had backed away the last times. But not this time around, he needed an answer.

"You have to!" The Dragon grabbed him by the shoulders. "I can simplify it by asking... Do you want to spend time with me? Do you want to try out for the way we were in the past, in the mirror?"

Megala shook, opening his mouth, swallowed again, then said softly, "Y-Yes.. I want to try... I haven't stopped thinking about it. B-But.. But it is just so dangerous, Voshie! You have no idea what Jupiter is capable of, or the people who follow her so zealously. If we're caught... I don't even want to think about it."

"Then don't. Damn the consequences, jewel, because we've just passed the point of no return. We have a wonderful thing for each other! And there's no hiding from it." He tapped their Sources together, emerald against diamond. "I think I already love you."

"Please... Voshka..."

"Oh, not that!"

"Voshie..."

"Jewel."

He brought their lips together for a soft kiss, as strong in feeling as it was brief.

That same night, Ben visited Yutaku Iman. Yutaku talked to him through the door's speaker.

"Hello, Yutaku Iman? This is Benjamin Sousa."

"Hello." Yutaku's finger trembled on the call button. "What do you need?"

"How about you open the door first?"

"No." He wished Anori was there, but the two had agreed not to meet in such a private way for awhile. "I don't think so."

"You're making a mistake," Ben whispered. He sounded as if he was right there next to him.

"I might."

"I could send some of us to get you. And it'll only be a matter of time before we get Anori as well."

"And the cameras will capture everything."

Silence.

"Jupiter will take care of you," hissed Ben, and Yutaku heard his footsteps retreat down the hall.

The Sorcerer collapsed on the door.

-OOOOOOO-

Eadni Elusiax was belted to Amon's bed, and he was feeling hot. Not good-looking hot (not like he wasn't), but heated, on fire. Sweat rolled off in rivers, his cock stood stiff and red against the sheets, and he was dripping self-made lubrication dripped between his legs. His five tails flipped in the air above him as he dry-humped the bed beneath. He grunted and cried out, but he couldn't find relief for his arousal.

It started this fifth night, the heat, and before it really got going, Amon had tied him to the bed with specially-made furry belts that wouldn't chafe his wrists. Amon had reasoned the tying was so that he wouldn't chafe his dick off. Then he had left to 'get something', and Eadni was left to his torment alone.

Amon came back a few minutes later, while Eadni felt like it was a little bit closer to forever. Immediately, the large mongrel began rubbing a minty oil across his body. The oil cooled Eadni tremendously, and his breath returned almost to normal. Amon reached under his body, squeezing his member, and Eadni realized that the mongrel was naked.

"Amon, could we?"

"Could we what, baby?"

"Do.. _it _tonight? I think I am ready."

"If you're not, I'm a friggen Cat." He rubbed more of the oil between Eadni's legs and then kept his hand there. "Yea, let's do it tonight. I bet I can put it in right now."

The heat inside the Blondie started to rise again, though with less pressure, as Amon leaned over him. "Yes, Amon, just put it in!" Eadni begged.

"Nah. With the kids gone, I can really play with you like this." Saying that, Amon easily entered three fingers inside Eadni's moist, tight passage. The mongrel himself had to moan a little at the sensation, but he settled for pumping in and out as his fertile Wolf Blondie- what an anomaly that was!- arched his ass for more.

He licked a hot tongue over the taste of the sweet oil on Eadni's skin.

"Oh, gods! Amon! Please don't tease me like this." Eadni had long been convinced that Malachi and the other demigods underneath him existed, and so did many other grand gods. And it wasn't like Eadni to curse too much, so he tried for the gods.

"I can get use to ya' beggin' like that. But-" Amon added another finger and shoved as deeply as he could, until he could feel the Blondie's prostate. When he did, Eadni began to do this lovely twitching of his anus. "Fuck, yea, baby, keep doing that." He released his fingers, now just too far gone in his arousal to hold back any longer.

Pressing his cock against Eadni's twitching orifice nearly sent him over the edge, but he managed to hold his seed as he sank in deep. Eadni immediately began moving.

"That feels so wonderful, Amon," he whispered breathlessly. "I love you."

"I love you, too, baby. But I gotta move, and I ain't gonna last long."

"Don't worry, move as fast and hard as you can."

"Yea," Amon agreed, snapping his hips, earning himself a long scream from his lover. The kids were with a gang called Phoenix. Though those boys and girls were a bit nuts, they did okay with the kids.

He took Eadni by the hips and made him moan all night.

-OOOOOOO-

Sixth night and Ru and Kahlan got their hands on their own Anti-Bar, from Omaki himself. He had given them a wink and conveniently went on a day out with Aki and Enyu. No one trusted the night sky for travel anymore.

They were rubbing their dicks together on Ru's bed, kissing feverishly. Ru raked his fingernails along Kahlan's scarred back. He's done it before, and wondered about the markings, and got the answer that Kahlan didn't have them before.

"I wish... Sarius... was here..." Ru said between kisses.

"Maybe... next... time." (Underneath a tree crawling with vines)

They separated; Ru said, "You know about this stuff more than I do, Kahlan. How about you... like.. do some of that stuff."

"You mean, like this?" Kahlan pulled a nipple, then sucked it into his mouth.

Ru gasped, "Yea, like that. Now, what do I do?"

"You can just lie there."

"Isn't that boring? For you, I mean?"

"Not at all."

"Oh. Ok, then," Ru said, and relaxed as Kahlan played wonderfully with his nipples, biting sometimes, then licked the small pain away. He tugged them with his fingers, which hurt a bit more than biting, and rubbed them erotically, rolling the nubs slowly in his palm.

"You have big nipples."

"Shut up! Don't say that ever again!" Poor Ru had a complex about his larger than average-sized nipples.

"But I like it."

"You're a freak."

Kahlan reach his bellybutton, dipped briefly, and went onto his cock, standing ready.

Ru really was ready; the slow foreplay, which he sunk into his memory for later use, had him aroused beyond belief. The pleasure was almost unbearable as Kahlan swallowed him, and he came into his mouth.

"Ah!" Ru groaned. "S-Sorry, Kahlan, I was just... really far gone."

Kahlan traveled back up his body, kissing him deeply. Ru became stiff again as he tasted himself in the Aristian's mouth.

"Wanna learn something else?" Kahlan asked as they parted.

"Yea."

-OOOOOOO-

The seventh night, no one was in the mood but to watch another mirror; each night they had watched multiple ones, some spectacular in their information, some horrifying to even think about.

Guy avoided Iason and Riki like the plague, and made their nights supremely awkward and sexless. Ima pretended that life was normal around Heiku and stayed quiet when the mirrors played each night. There was plenty of sex, on the videos and present life, but Voshka and Meg never got that far. Suuki and Aki shared one kiss, Aertis and Konami shared another. Norris told Eadni that Mrir was pretty, and Sid made a serious move on Zusin, and Luke was content by himself. Kirie tried to make Guy feel better about Riki but only succeeded in making him angrier, his telekinesis stronger.

The next night, they would be lost in a forest, but first, the mirror they watched that last night, a mirror which put them at ease at least temporarily.


	19. The Last Mirror

Chapter 17 of... The Last Mirror

Eadni Elusiax loved children. It could even be broadened further to say that he loved anyone ten years younger than him, so by definition he didn't quite like his peers as much as he did Iason as his friends, and didn't like Iason and his friends as much as Aertis and his friends, and he liked Suuki and his friends the most.

But that changed temporarily, at least that week before the meeting with Jupiter. His favorites were Iason and the rest as they were in the older mirrors. They watched a video titled _Raising the kids, 1__st__ Generation age 20_. This mirror came out with multiple others, labeled _Fights_, _Sex Scene_, _Interesting Interactions_ and a few others. There were dozens of these mirrors, stacked by their title.

The 'generation age' stood for Iason and the other Blondies. Among the other members of the first generation were Riki and his mongrel friends, the Furniture, and the other members of the penthouse like Tai and Kahlan. Second generation was Aertis and friends, which have been narrowed down from, as seen in the mirror, from fifty-two, to twelve, to three. Third generation, down to two, was Suuki and Aki.

Amon and Eadni had raised an army of same-age Blondies and younger recruits, some of them that used to Sentinels such as Palo Corrocuni and Dagas Freischonen. (It was agreed, after receiving this information, that now there were enough people who were pulled into this debacle, and Palo and Dagas were never contacted to join them, though they were going to be involved in a shorter time than they thought.)

They started the mirror of 'raising kids', per Eadni's insistent request. The camera mirror was better quality than Iason's, and it was learned that Amon had Sprung and stole it from a royal technology shop in Xeron.

-OOOOOOO-

"Alright, I got it all set; it might get confused some, but it's rolling good," came Amon's voice from behind the camera. "Guy! Get Norrie before he eats that."

The mirror swirled to an extremely young Guy, who was only too happy to snatch away a coin a crawling Norris was about to pop into his small mouth. Norris plopped on his bottom and began to cry.

Guy, finished with his deed, continued on his way to a large room filled with other children, many of them older than Guy and mostly mongrels. Evidently, Amon followed him. The pitter-patter of Norris's feet could be heard as well. Eadni, no more than seventy, sat feeding a tiny baby Riki with an equally small bottle. Guy went to Eadni's knees first, staring at Riki. Riki's big black eyes stared back, and his head bounced as he drank. Next to him, Ima's light purple hair could be seen as she slept in Eadni's elbow.

"Hey, why don't you give an introduction to your second mirror of your fantastic babies?"

"I'm the fantastic-est, right, Papa Amon?" Nico bounced up next to Guy. Xian, nearby, stuck out his tongue.

"Sure you are," Amon said blandly.

Nico narrowed his pretty blue eyes, small fairy wings fluttering angrily. "You don't mean it."

"What makes you say that?"

"You always say 'sure' when you don't mean it."

"Oh."

Nico puckered his lips, poking out the upper one, and then stomped off.

"I think you're the fantastic-est, Nico," came a voice from off the mirror.

"Thank you, Aether!" A loud smacking sound.

"Well," Eadni began. "These are the kids. There are about thirty of them, and they are just adorable!" Eadni began naming them off. At this time, there weren't any of them except the Blondies and the mongrels. "They can already read and do plenty of math, so I'm not rushing their education."

"I'm the best at math!" Nico yelled.

-OOOOOOO-

At this point, two-hundred-odd-years-old Yutaku realized that the twenty-year-old Elites spoke more eloquently than twenty-year-old Suuki and Aki. Later, he and the others found out that Suuki and Aki were stolen a mere two days after their Blondie installation. Thus, they retrograded to regular humanoid and fairy development.

On the other hand, Iason and the others had stayed in Watch- with Blondie food and enhancements monthly- ten years before Eadni escaped with them. They grew faster mentally than anyone of their generation, as expected.

-OOOOOOO-

"Yes, you are, Nico." Eadni shrugged at the mirror, or Amon, or both. "It's the truth."

"You shoulda said sure," Amon said in a teasing tone.

Eadni shook his head, smiling, his eyes filled with love as he looked past the mirror at Amon. "The rest are children from Ceres," he continued, taking the bottle from Riki and began to burp him, "and they are helping Amon and me with the little ones."

As the mirror was still trained on Guy, it followed him as he waddled to a corner where Raoul was coloring pretty pictures. Even from the range of the mirror, the audience could see that his pictures were better than the average drawing by a twenty-year-old. Way better.

Raoul frowned when Guy reached for a crayon, a piece of paper in his hand. Quickly, the little Blondie snatched it away. "Mine!"

"Raoul!" Eadni admonished.

But Raoul was on a path to naughtiness, and he took the rest of the crayons and pressed them to his chest. "Mine! Mine, mine, mine!" He stared everyone else down, daring them to say otherwise. He didn't waver when Amon came to tower over him. Raoul didn't even reach his knee.

"You're being bad, Raoul."

Raoul's grey-blue striped tail went back and forth defiantly.

"Uh, oh. Raoul's gonna go crazy again," Omaki warned, a thumb in the side of his mouth.

"You give Guy some crayons or else I'mma spank the shit out of ya'.'

Raoul said nothing. And then he whispered, "Guy makes ugly pictures."

"You're _being_ ugly."

The kid shrugged.

Amon genuflected, gave Raoul a loud smack on his shirt-covered bottom, and waited. When Raoul continued holding the crayons captive, he gave him another spank. Raoul suddenly stomped his foot, face firmly grim. He took all the crayons out of the box and held them in his tiny fists. Then he crushed them, breaking the colors into a bunch of crumbly pieces.

The camera suddenly swerved on Amon, whose handsome face distorted in rage. He raised a large hand, making to swing.

"No, Amon! Don't!" Eadni cried

As soon as the command was given, Amon balled his fist. He then turned on one heel and walked away. He picked up Norris from the floor and began to shake him; Norris began laughing. This seemed to calm Amon down a bit. He set the baby back on the floor, and he went back to Raoul, taking him by the arm into a separate room, shooing out the kids in there. He sat Raoul down, and then sat down with him.

They stared at each other for few moments. Amon ended up speaking first, "What the hell is wrong with you today, Raoul? First, you tried to stop Riki from crying by screaming at him, then you kept hitting Xian, and now you crushed the only colors we got."

Raoul traced patterns on the floor.

"You look at me when I'm talking to you, boy." Raoul's grey-blue eyes looked innocent enough, but that only made Amon narrow his eyes even further. "What's wrong?"

"I guess... I'm irritable when I'm hungry," Raoul mumbled. "My stomach... hurts so bad."

Amon looked surprised. "How long ya' been hungry like this?"

"About a week..."

"Lemme have a lookie. Take off your shirt."

Raoul did so, embarrassed to display rows of ribs and a diminishing stomach puckered with withered abs.

Amon traced his stomach. "Damn... We gotta get some food in you."

"It's ok. I don't want more food than anybody else. It won't be fair."

"What's not fair is if ya' starve. You need the food, kid."

"But we have no money. And Nini doesn't like you stealing." Raoul chided, "It's bad."

"You let me worry about Eadni." Amon stood up. "While I'm doing that, you get all the leftovers."

"Okay," Raoul answered with cheery spirit.

"Try to control that temper of yours, too. Can't blame all _that_ on your empty stomach."

"Yes, sir."

They went back to the playroom, and Eadni eyed Amon questionably. Amon waved him forward; Eadni got up with Riki and Ima still in his arms, now both asleep. When they were alone, Amon explained the situation.

"And he's not going to be the only one... Once the other humanoids' stuff start kicking and they be gettin' into their growth spurts, we're gonna have a lotta hungry chillen."

"What do you suggest we do?" Eadni asked worriedly.

"Lemme start stealing again, how 'bout that?"

"No, Amon, it's bad enough we have this high... tech mirror-"

"Then there ain't no other way."

They frowned one another down. Riki began to fuss against Eadni's chest, and the Blondie rocked him back to sleep.

Eadni's face suddenly brightened, "How about we find someplace new to live? Like an orphanage?"

"Here? Baby, you gotta remember we can't just go out in public."

"No, hun, not here. Like... Out of Amoi, like Aristia, or Alpha Zen."

"And how am I going to get back in through the Grid?"

The hopeful face fell.

Amon scratched his head awkwardly, feeling a bit overwhelmed by Eadni's sad face, then he got his own idea, "If you don't mind handling the pups for a while," he said, "I can probably go out and find someone who can Spring through the Grid.

"Really?"

"In a jiffy, in fact. I'll probably need to do a little convincing, but it's going to be alright, don't you think?"

"Are you sure? Are you alright with leaving Amoi?"

Amon waved him off. "I always thought my goal in life would be to take care of all the mongrel kids here, but I found a new calling."

"These Blondie kids?" said Eadni, imitating Amon's gruff manner.

Amon pushed his face close to Eadni's. "Nah, you."

Eadni tried to fight the blush, but ended up looking flushed all the same.

"And I would feel guilty leaving you all by your lonesome with all the kids. So I'mma try and come back as fast as I could, 'kay?"

"Okay."

They shared a kiss, which Amon made deeper by grabbing the back of Eadni's head and sucking loudly on the ex-Elite's tongue.

"Take the mirror," Eadni whispered onto Amon's lips. Then he handed over the sleeping Riki. "This is so that people wouldn't be afraid of you."

"'Kay. Omni," he called. Amon looked straight into the mirror, grabbing his chest. "Damn thing scared me." His fingerprints smooshed themselves on the screen as he took it from the air. "Alright! Come on Springen! Take me to someone who can get in and out of this Grid without getting their brain egg-fried!"

The mirror colored over with Amon's dark blue Spirit. Riki's black eyes then filled the screen, and a whooshing sound could be heard. When all that was done, a stone wall took the shirt's place, and then the camera rapidly floated upwards to show an over-the-shoulder view of Amon and a young Voshka, playing with a couple of dolls.

Amon saw the emerald Source and murmured, "Shit. I'm in Alpha Zen."

"Yes, you're in Alpha Zen," Voshka said in Amoian.

"Woohoo! You speak Amoian?"

"Yep, it's easy talk. We all learn a second language here at the orphanage. I know four," Voshka spoke proudly. "You're a really big Wolf. Can I get on your shoulders?"

"Nah, kid. Lemme see ya' guardian first before you start taking piggy-back rides from strangers."

Voshka's eyes went wide. "Oh, yea, you _are _a stranger! Stranger danger!" He shifted his lips to the side. "But you're nice, right? You're a father."

"I might be."

An emerald-Sourced Dragon woman appeared from around the corner and, upon seeing the monstrous Amon, snatched Voshka by the shoulders. With angrily glimmering eyes, she demanded something that Voshka couldn't understand.

"He speaks Amoian," Voshka told the woman.

"What is your name, then?" she said in Amoian.

"Name's Amon. And I am here... to ask a really big favor of your kid."

"I'm not hers. My parents are dead," Voshka said without batting a eyelash. "They are buried outside. They died last month."

Now, Amon was feeling a little guilty. He decided he didn't want to ask, after all. Perhaps there was someone else out there who could do what the kid could...

"You know what, nevermind," he said, getting read to Spring.

"Wait! Did you Spring here?" The Dragon woman bit her lip as Amon nodded. "Does your child need something? Is he sick?"

"Nah." Amon held him in one hand, showing off how Riki could now sit up on his own in Amon's big hand. The baby mongrel reached forward for one of Amon's fingers and began to nibble.

The emerald-Sourced woman hung out her hand, and Amon took it, knowing that Riki's charm probably convinced her that he was not a bad person. "So _why_ are you here?" she asked.

"Well, I live in Amoi, as you may know, and I Sprung outta there to find someone who can Spring in and out of Jupiter's Grid. That kid there can."

-OOOOOOO-

At this point, Amon of the audience realized that Bars must have prevented him from being able to Spring out of the Grids in Amoi. He hadn't tried his luck since he removed his Bars, which had been almost as enormous as he was, and a mix of various minerals, metals, and gems. Some were as tiny as his fingernail and there were was a diamond one along his back. Luckily, he only grew a few inches (he was starting to have a complex about his height now), but his muscles were more defined and his skin had taken a reddish-copper tone.

His change made Eadni a very lucky man indeed, especially as his sexuality was unlocked with the Bars.

-OOOOOOO-

After a few more minutes of talking and Amon verifying (and lying about) the safety of the mission, Shiva, the Dragon woman, agreed to let Voshka go with him back to Amoi. She told him that he can only Spring to places he have seen, and then Amon showed him the mirror of their home. Afterward, Amon prayed for the best and had Voshka Spring with him back to Amoi.

It worked.

But the place which the group had called home for a few years was in shambles and splashes of blood were everywhere. Several children in the room they Sprung in had been shot and were lying dead on the floor.

Amon turned to Voshka, shielding his eyes from the gory scene. "Go back."

"This isn't as bad when I saw my Ma and Pa, and sissy and bubba. And you need my help," Voshka said, eyes filling with tears anyway. "If I leave, you will die too."

"Don't you worry about me, get out of here."

"No."

Amon rubbed his face, nervous but ready for battle. "Well, stay next to me and out of the way. Behind me, behind me," he ordered Voshka, who was, he found out, only ten years older than the Blondie kids dead on the floor.

When they went into the next room, there was no blood or dead bodies, for which Voshka was grateful.

Suddenly, the rest of the children appeared in the middle of the floor.

"Amon!"

"Papa Amon!"

"They took Eadni!"

"And Iason!"

"They killed Jaime!"

All this came at once, and Amon attempted to calm them down. When they showed that they were on the track to a full-fledged panic, Amon yelled out, "Hey! Shut your mouths!"

They stopped talking, but several of them burst into tears at his outburst. Yutaku seemed the calmest out of all them, but he had a nosebleed.

"What happened?" Amon asked him.

"The Sentinels found us. They entered from the other side and Iason told me to use a spell that would make all of us invisible except for him and Eadni. When they came in from killing everyone in the next room, they came in here and took Eadni, Ima, and Iason. After looking for the rest of us, and not finding us, they left," Yutaku narrated. "The spell made my nose bleed," he explained further.

"Alright... Alright, I got this." Amon breathed deeply, clearing his head. Yutaku's calmness actually made him feel better, even though the kid might've been in shock. He turned to Voshka. "Can you get these guys out?"

Voshka nodded, looking at his soon-to-be new friends with whom he will travel for many years.

"Good." Amon looked around. "Where is Guy and-"

"The other Wolfies took them," Nico said. "They said that Blondies were dangerous and 'us mongrels need to look out for ourselves'."

"Alright, I think we lost those guys, but you guys get with him. He will take you to a new place where the Sentinels won't- might not find us for awhile." He didn't want to lie to the kids. "Here, Raoul, take Riki."

Raoul wrapped his arms around the baby, easily cradling him.

Voshka said to Amon, "I'll be waiting here for you. I'll hide in that closet." He pointed to the bathroom, but the concept was the same.

"Thanks."

Amon quickly sniffed the air for Eadni's scent and sped off, hoping nothing went wrong with Voshka and the other kids. He hadn't asked what the boy's carrying limit was, but he seemed confident that he could take them all on. That was a good kid.

He could smell Iason's almost-baby smell as well, and Ima's mongrel scent, which one could practically sense in Ceres. He materialized into Wolf form, pulling forward on his forelegs and pushing back with his hindlegs with all his might. He caught the van, a nondescript little van perfect for the occasion. It was riding at a moderate speed down the street, inconspicuous. Not like it needed to be, there was no one else on the street.

Which made it perfect for Amon to perform several leaps until he jumped over and in front of the van, stopping it with his whole body with a loud crunching of the front and hood. He heard several bodies slam forward, and he hoped he hadn't hurt the kids.

He hurried around to the back before the drivers could get out. There, he ripped open the doors and found six occupants: three Sentinel's and those he fully intended to rescue, including a disheveled Eadni in half-phased form. Without preamble, he snapped his fangs around the throat of the nearest napper and threw him out with a bloodied neck.

The other two stared in shock as this enormous Wolf forced his way inside the van; they didn't think of their guns in the split second they had the chance. Soon, both were flying out the van with bleeding torsos. The lone driver out front, knowing that his side was obviously going to lose this battle with their lives, took out a warp mirror and called for back-up.

By the time they came, their hostages and the enormous mongrel were long gone.

Amon had carried all three of them back to their hideout and found Voshka in the bathroom, as promised. Wiping the blood off his lips, he said, "Get us the hell out of here." And so they left the bodies, soon to be found and buried by the crew who escaped with Guy, Luke, Norris, and Sid.

On the other side, in Alpha Zen, they were greeted by the rest of the frantic children, all asking if Ima was alright, or if Iason was. After ample visual checks and affirmations from both the adults and child, there was fearful paranoia over the Sentinels.

Were they following us?

Would they find us?

Would they kill us?

But most of all, what broke Eadni's sad heart, was their exclamations of how they didn't want to die, or anyone else. He wished he could hold all of the children in his arms and make them feel better. He wished they were all there- they had lost seven of the children and five of the Ceres kid helpers were gone as well. All killed in the shootout.

So now he had twenty-three kids.

At the orphanage in Alpha Zen (Arms of Igna Children House), Shiva and her husband Bartos taught the children and Eadni self-defense. During that time, Alpha Zen was in the middle of a bloody civil war, and Bartos's brother Himmin was the leader of the closest revolutionary resistance (who lost the war against Alpha Zen's Senate, only to be won over by Voshka in present time).

-OOOOOOO-

The mirror was fast-forwarded five years. In all, they had spent a little more than twelve years in Alpha Zen, quite a few more than 'a few' as Voshka claimed in the first mirror.

-OOOOOOO-

After five years, the twenty-five-year-old Blondie children had formed their own styles of fighting. Xian, with his three-sixty degree vision, had incorporated break-dancing into his moves and was second-fastest next to Nico, whose nimble fairy feet made his speed impeccable.

They were broken into groups based on their styles, and their teachers included the aunts and uncles and grandfather to Bartos and Himmin, who died that year in a riot. His role as revolutionary leader was handed to Bartos, much to Shiva's dismay. She believed (correctly) that his interaction in the war would bring it to the doorstep of the orphanage.

With that warning, the practicing regime of the Blondies were made incredibly strenuous. Raoul became a powerhouse, yet agile, and one of the best fighters in the group. He was no match for Eadni or Amon; no one was. Eadni's smooth, watery moves made him difficult to read when the opponent was on the defense. When he or she was on the offense, Eadni's five-tailed strength and resilience made him unstoppable.

And presently irresistible to Amon. Several times they set the mirror into the children's practice rooms so that they could have time to themselves.

One time they forgot.

-OOOOOOO-

At this point, Eadni then impeached the others to skip forward, to no avail, and he received no help from Amon, who enjoyed the coming scene while Eadni covered his red face.

-OOOOOOO-

The mirror had followed them into their room where they quickly rid themselves of their clothes and, without any known preparation, began making love.

Eadni lied on his back with Amon shifting between his legs viciously. They gasped harshly, as they were trying to keep quiet, though the lasciviously wet noises made enough sounds to stop people outside their door.

"Oh, baby," Amon growled, kissing hard on Eadni's taut neck. He slowed down his quick thrusting, sensuously moving his hips back and forth. His muscles bunched and lengthened appreciatively, his skin color shining with sweat. "You feel that?"

"Yes! Faster, please!"

"Whatever you want." Amon obeyed the wish but first lifted Eadni onto his lap, hooking his fingers beneath Eadni's firm, bulging buttocks and spread him wide. Amon's cock could easily be seen reentering Eadni's firm yielding passage. "Oooooh," Amon sighed brokenly.

Amon was deeper than before; subsequently, Eadni began panting, close to the edge. When he was lifted by Amon onto and off that huge cock, he couldn't hold back his cries. Fingers stuffed themselves into his mouth; Eadni bit down on them.

As he was fond to do, Amon slowed down again, pulling Eadni off and then pushing just far enough to get the head of his dick in. Eadni's asshole made moist popping sounds each time Amon pulled out.

Eadni shuddered. "Please, Amon," he whispered. "Why must you always tease me?"

"It's what I do," laughed Amon, dropping Eadni suddenly.

"Ah! Ah-ah-ah!"

Amon had lied down, letting Eadni ride him for all he was worth while he met the Blondie's rhythm, relentlessly striking that wonderful spot inside him.

With a lick of his lips, Eadni tightened his inner muscles. Amon grunted accordingly; Eadni quickened his pace as fast as he could, and Amon was lost, holding onto Eadni's hips until he came with a deep rumble in his throat.

Eadni wasn't far behind, coming soundlessly on Amon's stomach, but shaking visibly all over. He rested down on his lover's chest, waiting for his breathing to return to normal.

They kissed, the camera taking in the delightful way they swirled their tongues around the other and licked the opposing lips.

Then they slept for awhile, woke up, and showered together without further sexual action. When freshened up, they exited their room much more content.

Amon then called for the camera they called Omni. It hit him on the back of the head. They then realized that it had recorded all their sexual activities like some performance.

But neither of them figured out how to erase it (there was a password for that which, given that it was stolen, wasn't of Amon or Eadni's knowledge).

"Let's just hope the kids don't watch this for another few years," Eadni hoped.

"Well, they are going be having sex soon."

"Soon? They are only twenty-five!"

"Weren't you the one to tell me that aging of the..mind wasn't...what was that word? Penny-er?"

"Linear. I know that, but... I haven't heard of such acts at such a young age."

"You didn't hear _any _acts."

"Oh, Amon," Eadni said exasperatedly. "I'm serious."

"Me too. Voshka is already doing it, and Anori's made a damn lifestyle out of it. But that's just Dragon culture."

"Yes, that's Dragon culture. I worry about those boys. Surely, they know there is something in the world besides sex."

"For Voshka, you know there's Meg."

Eadni smiled at this. "Let's go check on the kids."

The first room they came to was a practicing room, a matted area surrounded by mirrors on the wall. The orphanage was state-of-the-art with several rooms dedicated to honing various skills, from mental activities like chess to, of course, fighting.

It was a surprising fight between Yutaku, who now had glasses from his eyes retrograding so much, and Nico. Nico was fast, dodging Yutaku's low-powered spells with much difficulty, but was unable to get close to him because of a barrier which Yutaku had put up. He bounced up against it, trying with bare strength and magic willpower to knock it down. Soon it began to crack- Yutaku gasped and stepped back.

The barrier broke, and they had to fight hand to hand, magic coming together in bursts of sparking lights. Pinkish and reddish hues of Spirit sparkled everywhere.

Eadni covered his mouth when Nico's leg caught Yutaku in the face, yet in very momentum of falling Yutaku turned himself around and swiped Nico's feet from under him.

The others were cheering, Aether, predictably, for Nico. A forty-year-old Anori was for Yutaku, and the rest separated accordingly.

"Yumen nayi taku!" Yutaku shouted in an ancient language, blasting Nico away with a astonishing bout of visible energy. He flung Nico far across the mat, onto his back.

Eadni was wringing his hands nervously, though Heiku, who was now known to be an absolute prodigy of medical spells, made him feel just a teeny bit better as the fight went to a whole new level.

Nico charged at Yutaku, narrowly avoiding higher-level spells that burned through the mats; one did hit him on the shoulder, making it smolder, but he ran on without noticing, totally into the fight. He met another barrier forming around Yutaku, jumped as high as he was able and managed to bypass its height. He quickly locked his knees on Yutaku's shoulders. In a feat of great flexibility, he flipped backwards on his hands, holding Yutaku's head with his knees, and slammed the other retrograding Blondie to the floor. What he lost in intelligence (and subconscious allegiance to Jupiter) he gained in physical prowess.

"Yutaku!" Eadni finally screamed, about to run to the floor, but Amon stopped him. He continued messing with his hands.

Yutaku was very dazed, but otherwise okay. He blasted another beam of magic easily enough, a "Shuman elivili cumus sin," which sounded like a whisper, as fast as Yutaku said it. His skin shone with a sudden brightness and blue light spread from him in a sphere, growing slowly until it burst apart in an explosion that sent Nico across the floor yet again. This time, it was far across to the opposite wall and he knocked into a mirror, shattering it into a million tiny pieces.

Shiva, sitting down on the floor and watching the fight with rapt attention, said a spell, "Do ne," and the mirror fixed itself into its regular form. As Nico was getting onto his knees, his back and hair badly bleeding with pieces of glass, she said, "Alright, that's enough, guys. Heiku, get Nico cleaned up please. Yutaku, your neck okay?"

Yutaku readjusted his glasses. "Not really. It hurts."

While Heiku healed Nico with special magic, Shiva did a much less secure job through regular spells. When finished, and with a second check by Heiku, Shiva admonished Eadni, "You need to be more confident in your boys!"

"I'm sorry." Eadni bowed his head. "I just get nervous."

"Well, stop it. They might lose confidence in themselves if they know you don't have any in them."

"I ignored him," Yutaku said honestly.

"Well, _certain_ people-" Shiva looked at Megala. "-don't have that kind of skill."

"I have a solution. Send him and Amon off to a fighters' camp," Bartos said. "The kids can beef up without Nini's interfering."

"Oh, please don't do that. I'll worry myself sick," Eadni pleaded.

"He wouldn' be able ta concentrate," Amon told them.

Shiva sighed. "Fine, he just needs to stop his mother hen pecking."

-OOOOOOO-

And here, the mirror stopped. They had skipped back to watch more fights- and how Eadni nervously intervened in some way or another- and an attack by the Alphazenian Senate, which ended in their favor. The mirror was inspiring for the guests at Iason's. The mirror made obvious that even at such a young age, they were powerful without their Bars and Jupiter to hold them back. But with so much time passing under Amoian life, the retrograde they had experienced had dissolved. Could they really fight as they used to? The answer for some, anyone who's been in a fight with the Sentinels, was obvious. But the Blondies? Well, perhaps an ordeal outside of Amoi could scrub the rustiness off.


	20. Last Encounter?

Chapter 18 of... The Last Encounter?

The sun was low in the sky, ready to set with hazy orange beams sprouting from its head and over Amoi, and Iason's house, long a place of impromptu and planned meetings, was full. For the attendees of this gathering, this would be their last real Amoian sunset.

The Elites and Amon were sitting at the long table which Iason bought some time ago when the occupants of his household became more than himself, a Furniture, and/or a Pet. They were drinking a lot of wine, even Eadni.

The others stood or sat around the table. Iason's dining room had plenty of space, but there was hardly a spot left for another person. Still, with so many people, one could hear a pin drop, and it would echo loudly.

Only those involved were there. Xian and Raoul had sent their Pets off shopping for as long as they would like. They will come back to empty apartments, to the police and Sentinels searching their homes, and would be questioned relentlessly.

The Blondies were to meet Jupiter in an hour. Iason would meet her first, half an hour before the rest, and then a group of ten for an hour, then another group for the same amount of time. Meeting Jupiter wasn't limited only to them, there were other Blondies to meet her, about fifty in all. No one knew what it was about, still, but there were more missing apprentices, including the ones Aertis had warned Konami about. There weren't any ransom notes.

Iason was feeling nauseous. The mood was heavy, but that wasn't why Iason was starting to feel uneasy; it wasn't the upcoming meeting with Jupiter, either. He had a feeling of intense deja vu, as if he knew this was going to happen. Something told him that he's lived this day before, but it was slightly different, only a little bit off.

It was as if he dreamed a variation of today somehow. Iason wouldn't deny that he might have that sort of precognition and he wasn't sure whether he should be happy or annoyed he had such a malfunctioning power.

He tried to remember the dream more deeply, and the words 'cave' and 'Dana Bahn' flashed before his eyes, and a flurry of images fluttered through. A shock sliced through his mind; the dream was gone forever. Solidarity passed with it. If the dream were a mile, he could only remember inches of it. But what did Dana Bahn or a cave have to do with today, he had no idea.

Voshka Khosi's mirror began to buzz. The Dragon turned it on loud enough for them all to hear.

"Commander! I don't know what the fuck is going on, but it is bad!" Anders screamed in Amoian from the mirror. "These... fucking... Hooded people- Are you sure? Hooded people are attacking!"

Kahlan's ears perked at this. He wore no Bars and happened to be a Tiger humanoid, like Raoul, but just a regular orange and black striped one.

"Do they have blue tattoos on their hands?"

"What? What, what, yea! They do! Who the hell are they?"

"It doesn't matter," Voshka said. "I'm coming."

Megala grabbed his arm, eyes wide. "It's a trap."

"I know."

"Then don't go!"

Voshka looked down, then at the grave faces of the others, then back at Megala. "Jewel. Do you perhaps think this meeting with Jupiter is a trap?"

Megala bit his lower lip, watching the others even more downed expressions. They believed it was a trap, other Blondies or no.

Voshka nodded. "You see? Anyway, I have a duty to my country to be there. It's bad enough I've missed so much." And he suddenly disappeared.

Anori stood up; Yutaku said nothing. The ruby Dragon Sprung away as well.

It seemed almost quieter than before, what with the contrastive noise that had come with Anders' message.

Suddenly, Riki said in the midst of the loud silence, "Don't go." He didn't explain who he might be talking to, but his glare was universal. "It's a trap- so let's just leave Amoi. Get the fuck out of here." Here, Riki set his black eyes on Iason.

"I'm not running away, Riki."

Riki looked like he was about to say more, but instead he curled further within himself, sulking. He wrapped his tails around his body and didn't say anything for the rest of the hour.

Iason came to a decision. It was not simple, it would make him look crazy, but he stood and watched them all until every eye was on him. He saw hope on their faces, as if he had all the answers, and for a while, he thought he _could_ think of something that would save them from whatever it was that they needed saving from. It might be Jupiter, it might be the Sentinels, or a mixture of both.

But all he said, after sipping a bit more of his wine, was, "Remember the cave... and Dana Bahn." The order seemed important...

"Why?" Omaki asked, completely baffled, as were the others.

"Just do. I have a feeling that it will be important in the future." Iason did feel relief bubbling up inside him. Whatever happened, those two places would be the key to their survival, he was sure of that.

-OOOOOOO-

After everyone parted ways less than that hour later, about fifteen minutes until, the dream was further scrambled by the fact that Eadni, Amon, Aertis and his friends stayed with the mongrels and Juthian at Iason's penthouse. Ima left, attended by Sarius, intent on not letting Jupiter's odd meeting get to her. Yui went with his Master to help him prepare and to get away from so many people. Daryl and Katze went back to Midas (where, again, the dream would be wrong, for those in the penthouse never went there to meet up with the two mongrel men). Enyu and the rest of that house went home with Omaki so that Omaki wouldn't be home alone. Suuki went with Aki, needing a different kind of comfort.

"Oh, Amon, I'm so worried about them," Eadni confided. "I'm still such a worrywart, aren't I?"

"I think this is an appropriate time to be worrying," Amon said slowly. He was still at the table, nursing a strong glass of lurid cognac. His mind tormented him with disturbing thoughts. Something wasn't right about this meeting. Too many times in the mirrors whereas they would be stuck between Sentinels and a hard place, surrounded, and their numbers would be cut strikingly small, usually to what they came to call the 'main ones' and what the Sentinels called the 'higher levels'.

"You shouldn't think about it," Norris said. "It would only make you more nervous."

"What do you have to worry about those stinking Blondies for, Norris?" Guy demanded, eyebrows in their usual scowl.

"You're getting wrinkles," Juthian muttered, earning himself the finger. The attendant didn't see it; he was busy texting the messenger Toma, who didn't like the sound of the meeting either. He said that he knows only two reasons why a leader would order such a gathering out of the blue: a birthday party, or he or she was going to do some killing. And since it wasn't the Blondies' Birthday...

Toma warned Juthian to keep an eye out and his head up. As long as he didn't let his guard down, he was bound to always survive relatively unscathed. But for added measure, as soon as his present mission was done, the ex-Furniture promised to come by to check on Juthian to make sure he was alright. Juthian expressed his gratitude.

It was a good thing Iason never remembered that dream, or else he would have had communicated all sorts of misinformation, like, as a last example, the police never came to the penthouse.

The Sentinels did.

-OOOOOOO-

"Oh, dear...Oh, dear. Oh, dear..." Meg kept saying.

"You say that phrase one more time I will _oh, dear_ you right across this room." Raoul narrowed his eyes, much like he did when holding the crayons all to himself, daring Meg to say one more word.

Meg bit his lip, which has gotten terribly swollen from the nibbling of his teeth.

They were standing idle on the first floor of Eos Tower with all the other Blondies called by Jupiter. Most were surprisingly excited to meet Jupiter, thinking that this was some sort of commemoration for their deeds. After all, _Iason_ was there, and all his famous friends were standing together as if ready for anything. Whatever occasion this was for, it was a good thing.

If only the others knew what went on through the minds of these Blondies.

"Do you love me, Aether?" Nico whispered into the Sky Captain's ear.

"Nico! What are you saying?"

"I was asking if you loved me. I guess it is a negative, Captain?"

Aether looked around apprehensively. He leaned over and barely said, "Of course I do."

Nico could die happy now; he was the only one beaming amongst his Blondie friends.

-OOOOOOO-

Iason went below first, as it was said in the schedule. Before him was a Jupiter he has never seen before in his entire career as Sovereign. She looked... human.

She, definitely she, had her own chair. A gesture by her had him sitting in his own chair. Iason moved almost without realizing it. The anxiety he tried to quell with wine and calm thoughts flared suddenly. Jupiter hardly ever made him nervous, not since his very first days.

"Iason."

"Your Excellence."

Jupiter, not smiling, not frowning, snapped her fingers. Around Iason the mirrors showed his penthouse door. There must have been a camera on someone's chest- the focus of the mirrors shifted ever-so-slightly. A hand crossed over the side of the view and knocked on the door.

Juthian answered it, his ringblade a necklace. Fiddling with it, he said, "Master Iason isn't here, Sir Sousa."

"May I wait inside?"

"Master made no instructions on uninvited guests. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I will have to say no, Sir."

"Let's not play this game, Juthian. You know why I'm here."

Juthian raised an eyebrow. "Even if I did know, you think I will let you in?"

"Without a fight?" Benjamin laughed. "No, I guess not." Gone was his 'nice weather we're having' attitude. It was replaced by the insanity infused with the rather unhealthy allegiance to Jupiter.

Still, wasn't that Iason's own reason for coming down to meet Jupiter? Part of him- granted, a small part- believed that whatever compromise Jupiter wanted would be reasonable.

"I'm not here to fight, Juthian."

"Sure you're not."

"But you are making this more difficult than this needs to be."

In an exasperated tone, Juthian demanded, "What do you want? You came here for a reason."

The recorder filled up with shining blue Spirit and then showed Juthian's back. A hand from behind the recorder, quite possibly some sort of mirror, struck Juthian on the neck, hard. Juthian fell to the floor, arm still extended as if to hold the door half-closed a little while longer. That show over, the camera swerved around and panned on Riki, standing alone next to Iason's chair. He was smoking a cigarette.

"Just the man we wanted to see!" Benjamin greeted. The Blondie produced a laser gun from inside his clothes and into his hand. Without warning, he shot Riki in the knee. The mongrel fell to the floor, screaming. Eadni, a few feet behind him, yelled his name but was held back by the gun.

"Riki!" Iason gasped. Quickly gaining his mien, he snarled at Jupiter, "What do you want?"

She didn't answer his question. "We know how much he could handle before his Spirit gets winded from healing, so I'll be careful. His abilities are quite useless from a distance."

As they spoke, Riki's knee began to heal. Slowly the bones aligned themselves, the muscles attached themselves to the tendons, and the skin grew over all of it.

"The shoulder," Jupiter said.

Again, another shot from Benjamin, in the shoulder. Jupiter didn't use any sort of device to relay her instructions, so Iason guessed quickly that some Sentinels and Jupiter shared a telepathic link, a truth never realized in the mirrors.

"What do you want?" Iason asked again, crossing his legs, trying to bring a sense of normalcy to the conversation.

"Pledge your loyalty to me, forever, and rid yourself of the mongrel."

Iason was speechless- this was exactly the sort of trade-off he feared.

"I can-" He was about to say 'not' before a feeling of doom passed over him. Buy time, was what came to his head. He needed time with Jupiter so that someone else could do something. It was inexplicably relieving to have such a clear-cut vision this time, Iason thought wryly. But who needed the time?

"You're asking... an impossible thing," he said at last.

"What's impossible? Pledging your loyalty, an aspect you were trained to give since coming into the world consciously, or giving up Riki, a filthy mongrel you've also been trained to detest?" To Ben: "The other shoulder."

"Both."

Jupiter gripped the sides of her chair and her face changed from stoic to anger and shock. She was unprepared for this; she thought at this stage of their young love, Iason wouldn't be prepared to see his beloved Riki hurt. She was mistaken, but that has happened before, plenty of times, and now was not the time to look weak.

"It's not impossible. Just forget about the life you had before this time and realize that that was a time of many mistakes. You can never," she emphasized, "go back. I will find you, and I will kill anyone and everyone who stands in my way- The other knee."

"Why do you wish to hold me in your clutches so badly, Your Excellency?" Iason simply couldn't bring himself to call Jupiter by her name, but several less-than-respectful names passed through his head.

"You should be happy. It is the only reason why you are alive now."

Iason recrossed his legs. "Why not let me go?"

"Because you are mine, just as you believe Riki is yours."

"Then if you understand that feeling, why don't you let me keep Riki?" Iason asked angrily, losing composure.

"You were mine first!" Jupiter screamed, shots of blue-the exact blue that had emanated from Ben in the mirror- blew from her and into the mirrors, breaking them. "Don't you understand that? You are perfect, and you are _mine_."

"What am I, Jupiter?"

Jupiter suddenly calmed herself. "It doesn't matter. All that does matter is that you're mine, always have been, and always will be."

It suddenly occurred to Iason that Jupiter may be insane. Years upon years of living must have done something to the great being's thinking process.

And then it came to him: What was Jupiter?

But Iason didn't think that was the problem. Jupiter was just a controlling creature, period, were his real thoughts. He had to tread carefully for what he wanted to say next, feeling out for any sudden physical discomfort. "I think I can answer your questions, now." Nothing happened. Whoever needed the time got all he or she needed.

Jupiter thought immediately that Iason had given in, so she was yet again unprepared for his answer: "I would rather die than give up Riki, so you best be prepared for my death if anything were to ever happen to him."

Jupiter transformed into a male form, which looked exactly like him. Iason was at first so stunned that he simply stared at the counterpart, and then Jupiter changed back to her female state, which, he realized with just as much astonishment, also looked like him. Iason began to feel as if he didn't want to know what she was after all, or what he himself was as well.

Jupiter pressed two fingers to her temple and said coldly, "Kill him."

Riki looked ready for the next hit, but his eyes widened, fear pressing into his features, as the gun aimed for his head. But his upper lip pulled back in a fierce grin, and he materialized into a wolf.

Just as Ben readjusted his aim, the camera spun to the ceiling, then slid quickly down the wall, panning out until Ben slammed into something and made the camera rumble. It showed an invisible force lifting up one of the four other Sentinels and throwing him against the wall, straight onto his head. The neck twisted and his face was thrown back in an awkward angle as the neck broke under the pressure.

"What's going on?" Jupiter whispered.

"It seems Riki has gained telekinetic abilities," Ben said dazedly. "This isn't going to be a problem, Your Excellence." No sooner than he spoke this, his knees drew up into his chest with a deep hole produced itself in the middle of his stomach. He heaved a gasp and that was all.

Jupiter hissed some evil talk and turned to where Iason had sat before. Rage filled her once more, and a great dread.

She was alone in the Chamber.

-OOOOOOO-

Iason ripped off his red-lined white cape and shed his gloves. Blonde hair flew behind him as he ascended the steps hurriedly, three at a time. His mind raced through so many different scenarios that he almost wished that choosing Jupiter was a choice, but it wasn't, not anymore. He needed to leave. He needed Riki.

But that terrible psychic told him that wasn't a good idea. Matter-of-fact, it was the wrong idea. DON'T DO IT, his mind screamed and offered THE CAVE instead. To it, that cave was the answer to everything.

Xian saw him first. He checked his watch. By the time Iason reached him, the rest had gathered.

"We need to get out of here. I have a feeling that things are going to get very wrong very quickly," Iason warned them.

"What did you do?" someone asked. Iason was too busy looking over his shoulder to see who.

"Jupiter told me to choose her over Riki." Iason looked at them. "I have no doubt that she would have asked you all the same sort of inquiry. In effect, she wants to separate us all."

"So this isn't a trap? And what's the deal with the other Blondies?" Xian was terrified at the turn of events. "Do you think we can go home?"

"Absolutely not. The Sentinels are there."

"Juthi-"

"He's fine, they all are. But if we go back, none of us will be."

Raoul challenged, "We're just supposed to take your word for that?"

Iason looked to the others, ignoring Raoul for the moment. "There's a cave just outside the library. I'm going to it. All of you have a choice: stay in Amoi and risk dying- of which I believe is the only outcome- or run with me."

"Are you sure Juthian and the others will be alright?" Xian asked.

Nico added, "And Eadni! He's still back there!" He was already speaking as if he was going to be leaving ahead. Aether beside him didn't look too sure.

"I'm leaving Riki, if that is worth anything."

The others, even Raoul, found this statement compelling.

Gunshots started blasting in the lobby. There were terrified yells, pained shouts. Right then, the Blondie friends made their move.

-OOOOOOO-

The invisible Amon killed or knocked out the rest of the Sentinels, and ushered the others out of the penthouse, but not before he removed the remaining Bars still in himself, Eadni, and the Blondie boys. He had left Riki to fend for himself against Benjamin's gun only because he didn't know the Sentinel would use the gun on him. As soon as he saw Ben's hard face, he started Springing to the other places, warning everyone to get to 'the cave' or Dana Bahn, whichever was closest. Since no one he's ever talked to actually knew where Dana Bahn was, he did figure the mysterious cave to be closer. Anyway, the cave could only be in one direction, and that was towards the Great Forest.

When he came back, he took little time to waste Benjamin (he hoped he killed him, but didn't have the time to check) and made sure everyone left the penthouse.

They picked up Yui on the way, his Bars removed. Amon had Sprung into the condominium just when Yui was letting his cat and bird out their separate cages. The tenacious cat hung to his shoulder while the bird flew over his head as he ran.

They were thinking to meet up with the Blondies on the first floor, but the place was a bloodbath, dead Elites everywhere and every obvious exit secured by Sentinels, so they took the same route as the Blondie companions did: the secret passage which Katze always took to enter Eos Tower, the one under the eye of the cameras.

The base of Eos Tower was surrounded by police and Sentinels posing as injured Elites. It was easy to see they were Sentinels: they all wore gloves.

So the unlikely group had to escape through narrow passageways even further straightening a route to the cave. The Outside Hands were working full force; they were going to be tired after this particular ordeal was over.

-OOOOOOO-

The Blondies thought to separate into different vehicles, but Iason assured them that that would only attract attention and waste time, and so they continued on foot.

They took a moment to take out their Bars with an Anti-Bar device Omaki had in his tunic, having kept it handy ever since he got Enyu. He got a good share of amused, though weary, looks as he turned to a she.

"I guess you can start calling me Oma now," Omaki joked, pink hair glistening in the dark. "On a more serious note, I think we should separate. If any of those Sentinels saw us, they would take us down like cattle in a slaughterhouse."

The others nodded.

"So this cave, it's straight from the library, right, Iason?"

Iason checked his thoughts for only a second. "Yes," he answered. "I'll stay behind a bit from the rest of you." To the other alarmed looks, he said, "It's for the best. I will be injured when I join you in the cave, but nothing to worry about."

"I hope you're not trying to be a hero," Yutaku warned.

"I'm not. If there was some other way, I would harp on it in a matter of seconds. However, I see nothing else."

And so they separated in ones, twos, and a three. Flying, speed-running, or otherwise finding some way to go faster than Iason. They went their separate ways. In a few hours they would find themselves together again.

-OOOOOOO-

Amon had Sprung ahead to see this cave thing, or at least as far as he could without going out of the Grid's realm and saw himself standing behind the library, looking out at the doom and gloom of the heavy Great Forest. They had a long way to go.

Springing back, he told them where they needed to go.

"But that's so far away," Yui said sullenly, pushing the cat up further on his shoulder.

"Look, whoever can fly, fly. That means you, Yui," Amon ordered. "You guys just run as fast as ya' can. Shift if you have to-" He spoke this to Norris and Sid.

"What are you going to do?" Eadni asked him, wringing his hands and looking as if he was to faint.

"I'mma get the others in the right direction."

"I wish I can come with you."

"I'll feel a lotta ease if you stay with the younger ones."

Aertis and his friends did not feel slighted in the least over this overbearing care for them. They were scared shitless. Was Amon talking about leaving Amoi? They all thought, and couldn't figure out any way to get out of the situation. Unless they went to Jupiter themselves and begged for their lives, but that was unacceptable. They saw what the Sentinels did to all those Elites who had done nothing at all, and what they could do to just very young Blondies. No, they would probably be killed on the spot.

After Amon left, they stuck together with Eadni for awhile before Guy suggested splitting up.

"It'll be faster for some of us," he offered as an explanation, though it was obvious that he was talking for very few persons.

Surprisingly, Aertis was the one to agree, "If we get caught, we will be sitting ducks, eggs all in one basket."

"But what about divide and conquering?" Kirie had finally gotten control of his lisp like he had in the mirrors. "They will pluck us off one by one."

"Exactly so," Eadni said quickly.

"I'd rather we get plucked off one by one than all get caught at the same time," Norris commented softly, not looking Eadni in the eye. "Plus, it is easier to hide in small groups."

"Oh... Boys..."

"We're not your goddamn boys!" Guy said in a loud whisper.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, Eadni!" Mrir glared at Guy. "Still, I also think it would be best to split up."

Eadni's face fell heavily with worry, but they, too, separated.

-OOOOOOO-

Three hours later, many had already made it to the cave. Daryl and Katze drove most of the way until traffic, controlled by Sentinels, sent them on foot. They would be one of the last ones in the cave. Those that could Spring got there the fastest- Konami, Sarius, Yui- and humanoids were not far behind them (Raoul and Yui reunited early). Everyone else followed.

Iason was furthest behind. The soon-to-be ex-Sovereign had doubled back and purposely attracted the attention of several Sentinels, where he then hotwired a car (the late Vy Geraldo's) and led them on a chase in airspace. He drove fast enough to lose them for a moment, where he parked the car, in front of the library, and continued his run on foot. He didn't dare use his magic (not like he really knew how), but the Sentinels, who were ordered not to kill Iason ("Still?" Benjamin had shouted.) weren't exactly deterred from shooting Spirit blasters, specially made guns that removed offending bones and tissue as well as Spirit. Unfortunately for them, Iason's Spirit was virtually limitless. His healing from the guns went at a much faster rate than they thought possible.

It was no help he could fly, and fly fast. That, and he was attracting all of their attention. If he hadn't been there to distract him, a few of the runaways would have been caught.

Iason felt himself pass through the Grid, not far from the library. Most of the Sentinels didn't follow, as he saw when looking over his bleeding but rapidly recovering shoulder.

Something in him told him to hurry, so he flew faster. The wind whooshed in his ear and his body tingled with newfound strength and energy. He was feeling pretty good in spite of the fact that his normal life has been trampled to nothingness. One may argue that that had happened as soon as he rescued Riki, some may even argue that when he met Raoul for the first time, his life was over. But none of that mattered now.

An hour later, he couldn't fly anymore. He began to feel as if he couldn't run either, everything was getting in his way and forcing him backwards. Falling down one extraordinarily steep hill, about twenty degrees from being a cliff, had him losing his pursuers as he slid underneath a large boulder. He sat there until his bearings could be found again and he healed completely. Then his inner sight led him to the cave.

It was invisible, probably Yutaku's work, but he could sense the entrance all the same. He's never been this exhausted in his entire life. As he walked in on wavering feet, he saw the occupants tense up. There were so many of them in there. So many fugitives, scared, inexperienced (except for maybe the mongrels and Juthian), and tired. Iason wondered aloud, "How on earth will we get to Dana Bahn?"

"Where is it?" someone asked as the ex-Sovereign sat down on the hard dirt floor where flurries of hairballs from the dead tiger, which someone had the decency to bury (Yui).

Aertis answered, "Nowhere near here. I've seen maps. The Great Forest is enormous, and unless you're within walking distance of Dana Bahn, or knows what it smells like _and _could track the smell, you won't be finding it anytime soon."

There was a quiet at this, and most looked to Iason, but Iason was unsure, rubbing his face like many of the others.

Riki pressed a hand to his shoulder. "I think we should get going."

Anori and Voshka Khosi Sprung from the ceiling then, dropping on Iason and Riki. Anori didn't get up, and when Voshka did, everyone saw his emerald Source was smashed in and his eyes were crossed and bleeding.

Yutaku flipped Anori over; blessedly, his eyes were closed, but blood ran down the corners. His ruby Source was missing a piece. "Oh, Anori," murmured Yutaku in a tearful voice.

"How in the hell did you get here?" Raoul asked, remembering their Springing limits.

"Combined... our powers... Can do that... Without Bars, but not going to die," Voshka said brokenly, and repeated, "Not dying- Anders gone. Got out... In time. Hold hands. We're Springing... out of here."

"Where Voshka?" Megala asked eyes wide with shock.

Voshka closed his eyes, squeezing out red drops from his eyelids. "This may be the last time I Spring in my lifetime... Have to make it count..."

"Dana Bahn?" Eadni whispered.

"Dana Bahn? Where... Where's that?"

Confused faces met other confused faces.

Aertis's face lit up among them and asked for room. "How about a map? Can you Spring to a place you see on a map?"

Voshka grinned a bloody grin. "No hurt in trying."

Aertis took up a white rock nearby and began drawing on the cave wall a detailed picture of a map, including the ratio of distance from reality to map size. Dana Bahn was a question mark between Amoi and the mountains, which happened to be called Dana Bahn as well.

"This is where we are, give or take several miles," Aertis instructed, pointing to a spot on his crude map. "It'll be good if we get close enough that if we climb a tree, we could see Dana Bahn."

"How would we know what it looks like?" Mrir asked doubtfully.

"It'll be the only building you see."

"Ah."

"You see this, Mr. Khosi?" Aertis asked.

Voshka leaned over and tried to see the map. "It's going to be good enough. I can sort of see... it in my head. Everyone... hold... hands before I faint."

And so everyone held hands for the first time in a long while. When they were ready, Voshka Sprung.

In that great in-between where bodies become pure Spirit and fly through the air faster than particles of light, something messed up, and broke apart the Spirits. The instability of Voshka's Source and, thus, his Springen paused the group in the forest air for over a year.

By the time they fell onto the grounds of the forest- miles away from Amoi but more than a number of disappointing miles left until Dana Bahn- Amoi had changed to a new place, and the search for them had reached all four corners of the continent.


End file.
